In ramping up regional output to meet booming demand for EVs, Panasonic also aims to increase localized sourcing of battery materials, targeting a 50 percent local procure rate.

Toyota is expected to begin selling a Crown sedan in the U.S. this year, replacing the Avalon, and will bring a hybridized SUV to the U.S. under the nameplate in 2023 to replace the Land Cruiser.

The automaker is ready for takeoff in the brand-new world of electric air mobility. But for now, it is skipping further investment in a Japanese startup founded partly by its own engineers in favor of an American aerospace company focused on fast, quiet flying machines.

Selling part of its 43 percent stake in Nissan could raise billions and ease long-standing tensions between the alliance partners.