February 22, 2004

By: Umberto Osbourne
Website: http://www.1st-in-cars.com

Matsushita Reorganizes European Car Audio Business

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., announced plans to reorganize its European car audio business operations.

This move is part of the company’s efforts to become a top supplier of car electronics equipment in Europe. As part of this reorganization, Matsushita will establish a new R&D/sales company, Panasonic Automotive Systems Europe GmbH headquartered in Munich, Germany, as a subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Europe Ltd.

The new company will be established by merging the R&D division of Panasonic Automotive Systems Deutschland GmbH located in Neumuenster, Germany, with the car electronics sales division of Panasonic Industrial Europe GmbH, based in Munich. In connection with these shifts, Matsushita will discontinue operations at PASD, an R&D and manufacturing subsidiary. Meanwhile, manufacturing of car audio products at PASD will be transferred to Matsushita’s existing production site, Panasonic Mobile & Automotive Systems Czech in Pardubice, Czech Republic.

The reorganization of the above-mentioned European car electronics business reflects Matsushita’s strategy to increase its focus on the European automotive industry, which accounts for approximately 30% of global automobile production.

Upon the implementation of Matsushita’s Groupwide business and organizational restructuring, Panasonic Automotive Systems Company, headquartered in Shinagawa, Japan, was established to create an optimum integrated operational structure in the car electronics field, for R&D, manufacturing and sales.

PAS has concentrated its efforts on enhancing a consistent, customer-oriented approach in each of the four regions of North America, Europe, China and Japan, in response to the global expansion of automobile manufacturers. Such efforts include the establishment of a newly reorganized Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America.

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