UPDATE 3-Japan's Matsushita to switch name to Panasonic

(Adds details, background, president quotes)

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Japanese consumer electronics maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd (6752.T) said it will change its name to Panasonic Corp on Oct. 1, using its most famous brand to increase global name recognition.

Unveiling its business strategy, Matsushita, the world's number one plasma TV maker, said it aims to boost sales by 5 percent or more in the year starting on April 1.

It will invest 94 billion yen ($857 million) to build a chip factory in Japan to boost capacity to make image sensor chips used in digital cameras.

Besides changing the company name to Panasonic, the Osaka-based electronics maker plans to switch the brand name for appliances such as washing machines and refrigerators in the Japanese market to "Panasonic" from "National".

"So far, all the corporate activities by the Matsushita group and all the hard work by our employees have spread out under three names -- Matsushita, National and Panasonic," Matsushita President Fumio Ohtsubo told a news conference on Thursday.

"We now aim to link all our efforts straight into one brand, one company name, which is Panasonic."

The current company name comes from its legendary founder, the late Konosuke Matsushita, who started the firm 90 years ago.

Ohtsubo said costs associated with the renaming are expected to total about 30 billion yen.

Switching its name to one well recognised globally is important to drive its overseas sales, which accounted for less than half of Matsushita's total revenues in the year ended March 2007. In comparison, rival Sony Corp (6758.T) earns three quarters of its total revenues overseas.

In a step to boost its overseas presence, Ohtsubo said the company plans to launch refrigerators and washing machines in Europe in the business year starting April 1, competing head on with Sweden's Electrolux AB (ELUXb.ST).

Matsushita also aims to raise its sales in Brazil, Russia, India, China and Vietnam by 25 percent to 500 billion yen or more in 2008/09.

AGGRESSIVE INVESTMENTS

Matsushita controls one third of the global plasma TV industry, but does not make the top five list in the fast-growing liquid crystal display TV market.