Panasonic Replaces Matsushita in North America

Advanced Battery Technology, Feb 2005

Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, the North American headquarters of Osaka, Japan-based Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., formally took the name Panasonic Corporation of North America on January 1.

"Panasonic is the name that customers and channel partners have known us by for years," said company chairman Yoshi Yamada. "We want to take advantage of the tremendous brand equity and good will that research tells us is built into the Panasonic name, so it makes great sense to call our company Panasonic."

In all, nearly 50 Matsushita entities in the U.S. and Mexico, ranging from Matsushita Electric Corp. of America headquarters in New Jersey to factories and research and development units, will take on the Panasonic name between January 1, 2005, through December 2005.

Similar changes in corporate naming will take place in Matsushita Electric subsidiary companies in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Oceania, and South America over the same period. The Matsushita corporate name, which comes from company founder Konosuke Matsushita, will be retained by the parent company and its subsidiaries in Japan where it is widely known and respected, and its association with the Panasonic brand is well understood.