A famous corporate brand name will disappear Wednesday when Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. abandons the name of its founder in an attempt to evolve into a truly global corporation.
The company, named after its late founder Konosuke Matsushita, is changing its name to Panasonic Corp. and abandoning its much-loved National brand adopted by Matsushita himself in 1927.
Matsushita and its group companies have long suffered from weak brand appeal with overseas consumers by having three different names — Matsushita as the company name, the National brand for electrical appliances sold on the Japanese market and Panasonic for other products sold in both the domestic and overseas markets.