Panasonic Corp. on Tuesday laid out its business strategy for fiscal 2017, seeking to return to a growth track by shoring up its home appliance and solutions businesses while pumping cash into high-potential automotive parts.

The electronics maker expects operating profit in its solutions unit, which sells industrial machinery, broadcast equipment and in-flight entertainment systems, to rise 36.9 percent year-on-year to 69 billion yen ($620 million) in the business year ending next March, company officials said in a briefing to analysts in Tokyo.

Panasonic expects operating profit in its consumer electronics and home appliance unit to rise 12.3 percent to 112 billion yen as sales in products including refrigerators and washing machines grow in Asian markets such as India, in particular high-end models geared toward wealthier consumers.

Air conditioners are also expected to do well as the company steps up sales of large products for commercial use.

"We've set up R&D bases in China and India over the past three years so we can tweak products depending on the market," said Senior Managing Director Tetsuro Homma. "I don't think our competitors have that ability."

Panasonic said earlier in the month its overall group sales are expected to rise 6.2 percent to 7.8 trillion yen in the current business year, with group operating profit climbing 21 percent to 335 billion yen. In the year ended March, group sales fell 3.7 percent and operating profit rose 20.2 percent.

The company's automotive and industrial parts unit is expected to see the largest growth in terms of sales, up 9.9 percent to 2.66 trillion yen. But operating profit is expected to remain at 93 billion yen as funds are poured back into developing products such as electric car batteries and systems for self-driving cars.

Capital investment in the unit this fiscal year is expected to total 299 billion yen, up from the previous year's 195 billion yen.

"We've invested a lot in this field from 2015 through 2017, and we should be able to reap the rewards for steady profit from next year onward," said Executive Vice President Yoshio Ito.

He said the company hopes to become one of the world's top 10 auto parts manufacturers in terms of sales by fiscal 2021.

Operating profit in Panasonic's housing and energy unit is expected to rise 12.1 percent to 72 billion yen.

Regarding its money-losing solar energy business, the company said it expects another year of red ink but is confident a partnership with Tesla Inc. to supply solar cells will help it return to profitability.