Panasonic Corp. said Friday that President and CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga will step down next year after a nine-year reign at the Japanese electronics giant during which he established a partnership with U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc.

Tsuga, 63, will be replaced by Yuki Kusumi, 55, managing executive officer who heads its automotive business, as CEO on April 1 and president on June 24. Tsuga will become chairman of the board without the right to represent the company.

Panasonic also said it will change to a holding company structure in April to clarify management responsibilities in a wide range of business units and speed up decision-making.

Tsuga, who became president in 2012, pressed ahead with cost-cutting efforts and led the company away from its low-profit home electronics business to focus on housing fixtures, car electronics and batteries for electric vehicles including those for Tesla.

==Kyodo

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