Sony to enter car battery market: Stringer

Sony CEO Howard Stringer speaks to reporters
Sony CEO Howard Stringer speaks to reporters at a round table meeting at the company's headquarters in Tokyo. Stringer said Sony will tap the car battery market amid growing public attention to green cars such as electric cars which would not emit gases responsible for global warming while on the road.

Sony Corp. will tap the rechargeable car battery market amid a growing focus on electric cars and green auto technology, chief executive Howard Stringer said Thursday.

"The energy business is obviously -- given the nature of the world we live in -- going to be a growth area," Stringer told reporters.

"We are going to put some of our own money into it and move quickly ... to see if we can find a place that makes sense for us," he said.

Japanese carmakers have invested heavily in developing hybrid, electric and fuel efficient cars that produce lower or no greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

has set up a business with Panasonic to produce lithium-ion batteries, while Nissan Motor and electronics giant NEC have also jointly set up a battery company.

"Somebody said to me, well, battery makers have car deals," said Stringer.

"If you produce the right , if you produce it, they will come," he said.

has booked a net loss of 26.3 billion yen (290 million dollars) for the fiscal second quarter through September, hit by weak demand for televisions, cameras and other electronic devices.

It forecasts a net loss of 95 billion yen for the year to March.

However, Stringer said sales in the US holiday season had been brisk so far, especially of the game console and Blu-ray disks.

(c) 2009 AFP

Citation: Sony to enter car battery market: Stringer (2009, December 3) retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2009-12-sony-car-battery-stringer.html
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