TOKYO, March 29 Reuters Japanese automaker Mazda Motor and the energy unit of Panasonic Holdings said on Friday they have signed an automotive battery supply agreement.

The deal comes out of talks about a battery supply partnership for electric vehicles that Mazda and Panasonic Energy started in June last year. Panasonic Energy also makes batteries for Tesla.

Mazda and Panasonic Energy said in a joint statement they will disclose at an appropriate time details of the partnership for the supply of cylindrical automotive lithiumion batteries.

The agreement is likely to help Mazda step up production of EVs as part of a 1.5 trillionyen 9.9 billion spending plan it unveiled in late 2022.

Panasonic Energy has also been in talks with Japanese automaker Subaru to set up a separate partnership for the supply of cylindrical automotive lithiumion batteries.

1 151.4100 yen

Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Kim Coghill and Tom Hogue

Source Reuters