Toyota Motor Corp., whose Japanese customers wait eight months to buy a Prius hybrid car, may avoid longer delays in the future thanks to Panasonic Corp.'s pending takeover of Sanyo Electric Co.
As demand grows for electric and gasoline-electric hybrid cars, a shortage of the batteries used in the vehicles may force automakers to compete for supply. Toyota, which aims to offer hybrid versions of all its models sometime after 2020, may find it easier to do so after its partner Panasonic makes Sanyo a subsidiary. Panasonic and Sanyo together account for 80 percent of all batteries used in hybrid vehicles worldwide.
"There will be severe competition for batteries starting from 2011 or 2012," said Takeshi Miyao, Asia director at auto research firm Carnorama. "What Toyota fears most is that battery companies may gain selling power."
General Motors Co., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. all plan to introduce new hybrids and electric vehicles. Detroit-based GM gets batteries from South Korea's LG Chem Ltd. for its Chevrolet Volt, scheduled to go on sale next year, and Yokohama-based Nissan has a battery joint venture with NEC Corp.
Toyota, the world's biggest seller of hybrids, is expanding battery production at Panasonic EV Energy Co., a joint venture owned by the carmaker and Panasonic since 1996, because of growing demand for its Prius model. Panasonic and Sanyo are both based in Osaka, Japan.
Rising Demand
"At this point, we think the batteries we develop with Panasonic are the best and we will continue" using them, Toyota's former executive vice president Masatami Takimoto told shareholders in June. "But if there are attractive batteries from other companies, we may use those, too."
Government rebate programs encouraging customers to trade in old vehicles for more fuel-efficient ones have added to the demand that's forcing customers to wait for their Priuses. Toyota registered 77,000 new Prius cars in Japan between May and the end of August, compared with a monthly sales target of 10,000. In the U.S., new sales of the model rose more than 20 percent to about 62,000 in the four months to September.
"We are extremely sorry for causing a delay," Toyota's President Akio Toyoda said on June 25. "We are trying our best to keep up with the unexpectedly strong demand."
Customers in Japan wait one month for Honda's Insight hybrid car, according to the Tokyo-based carmaker.
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