Panasonic appoints Kusumi as new CEO, replacing Tesla supporter Tsuga

Japan’s Panasonic Corp said on Friday it has appointed Yuki Kusumi, the head of its automotive business, as its next chief executive officer, replacing Kazuhiro Tsuga, a supporter of Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk.

The change, effective April 1, comes as strong sales of Tesla electric vehicles have allowed Panasonic’s battery business to eke out profits following several years of production troubles and delays at the US partner.

The partnership with Tesla, particularly a $1.6 billion bet on a battery joint venture in Nevada in 2014, was central to the incumbent chief’s strategy to shift away from low-margin consumer electronics to batteries, factory machines and components.