2006

Under President Nakamura's slogan of "De-construct & Create," from FY2004 Panasonic embarked on the "Leap Ahead 21 Plan" and almost achieved the target of "global survival levels": operating profit ratio of 5% or more and consolidated CCM of 0 or more. Amid this situation, in June 2006, Senior Managing Director Fumio Ohtsubo assumed the office of company president. President Kunio Nakamura moved into the chairman position, while Chairman Yoichi Morishita took on the role of executive adviser.
As he took on the role of company president, Ohtsubo stated that his mission would be to add Panasonic's name to the list of companies that represent global excellence. "Global excellence" had in fact already been a stated goal during the tenure of President Nakamura, and the company's operating profit ratio of 10% was an indicator of that. President Ohtsubo redefined "global excellence" as including that numerical target and also "making Panasonic into a company supported by stakeholders the world over by maintaining innovation that is unyielding and implementing sound business activities on a global scale." He clarified this as an effort at making Panasonic into a corporate entity that puts the art of manufacturing at its very core: a company that brings together the strengths of all employees to channel operations into a single sequence of all business activities that go into manufacturing to create products that are good and products that are strong.

In January 2007, the new mid-term plan was announced: continue "steady growth accompanied by profits" to win the right to challenge for "global excellence" by 2009.
The specific numerical targets stated were (1) sales of 10 trillion yen or more, 60% or more of which to come from overseas sales, and (2) ROE (return on equity) of 10% or more. In addition, one more goal was earning an external evaluation of Panasonic as a world top class company in the industry in terms of CSR management and brand trust.
Lastly, the name "GP3 Plan" was given to the goal of achieving the three GPs: global progress for Panasonic as it evolves while achieving increased sales across the world, global profits from high profits domestically and overseas, and global Panasonic, a brand that is trusted the world over.