Hitachi to sell batteries to GM
(BBC article of 2nd July 2007)
Hitachi has announced that it will be providing lithium-ion batteries that power hybrid cars to General Motors from next year.
The electronics company also said it planned to increase its production of the batteries from 40,000 cells a month to three million a month.
Hitachi's rivals have also been raising battery production for hybrid cars. Toyota said last month that it planned to use lithium-ion batteries for the first time in its plug-in hybrids. Its hybrids currently use nickel-metal hydride batteries. Hitachi shares closed up 3% at 307 yen. Batteries for hybrid cars are among the products it is relying on to return to profitability. Last month, it reported a net loss of 787.3bn yen ($8.1bn; £5.3bn), which was the record annual loss for a Japanese manufacturer.
It also warned that the next year would continue to be difficult and forecast a loss of 270bn yen. In January, Hitachi said it planned to cut up to 7,000 jobs because of a big fall in sales.
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