TOKYO--SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. announced today that SANYO and Haier Group Co. have reached a basic agreement to establish a joint venture for design and development of home use refrigerators, and will start a global strategic alliance for manufacturing and sales of refrigerators.

SANYO has major operations in such countries as Japan, United States, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, manufacturing and selling approximately 2.7 million refrigerator units per year globally. Haier is a leading company holding the world's top refrigerator market share.

The contents of this basic agreement are as follows. SANYO will separate the functions of design and development of its home use refrigerator business in Japan and expects to establish a new company by December 2006. This new company will take over the design and development of home use refrigerators, which has until now been handled by SANYO starting with Japan and Asia with plans to expand globally.

SANYO will transfer to Haier a majority of the stock held in SANYO Universal Electric Public Co., Ltd., based in Thailand, which manufacturers home use refrigerators. After the transfer, SANYO, by entrusting the production of home use refrigerators to Haier, will continue sales of home use refrigerators with the SANYO brand both in Japan and overseas.

Additionally, SANYO, through this new business model stemming from this alliance, will combine its advanced know-how and skills in such things as quality and production control, product development, and high-technology related to home use refrigerators with Haier's cost-competitiveness achieved by its world-leading, top procurement power as well as superior product developers and global sales network. Both companies will use this combined strength to make a new business model and develop a more competitive refrigerator business.