Panasonic Corp. said Wednesday it will end its joint solar cell production with U.S. electric car maker Tesla Inc. by the end of May and focus on sales of its own brand solar panels in the U.S. market.

The Japanese electronics maker said it will continue its joint production of electric vehicle batteries with Tesla.

The two companies agreed in 2016 to jointly produce solar cells at Tesla's factory in the state of New York. Since then, cheaper products from Chinese manufacturers have been dominating the global solar panel market.

"The decision to transit away from U.S. solar manufacturing in Buffalo aligns with our global solar strategy, our efforts to optimize development and production, and supports Tesla's long-term plans to continue and expand its operations," Panasonic said.

Panasonic's EV battery business for Tesla achieved profitability in the October to December period after suffering a series of losses resulting from the huge initial investment.

==Kyodo

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