WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co <BA.N> said on Tuesday that it did not believe during design and testing that a fire could occur in the lithium-ion battery system that failed on its 787 Dreamliner. Under questioning at an investigative hearing by the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, Mike Sinnett, Boeing's chief 787 engineer, said: "Any form of internal short circuit could lead to venting of that cell and release of electrolyte, but nothing more than that."

Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors on Wednesday asked 4,000 owners of its hybrid and electric cars to avoid charging their vehicles pending an investigation into overheating batteries. The move follows the melting of a lithium battery pack in a hybrid Outlander that was due for sale earlier this month, as well as a fire triggered by an overheating unit in a factory which produces the MiEV electric vehicle. No one was injured in either incident nor was there damage to facilities.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Boeing Co Ltd <BA.N> said on Friday the use of lithium-ion batteries was the right choice for its 787 Dreamliner passenger jet. The planemaker also said it has asked Japan's GS Yuasa Corp <6674.T>, which makes the battery for 787, and France's Thales SA <TCFP.PA>, which produce the battery system for aircraft, to improve production standards to eliminate "variation" in battery cell production. (Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

By Lee Minji SEOUL, March 12 (Yonhap) -- Samsung SDI Co. topped the global market for lithium-ion batteries for the third straight year in 2012, helped by growing demand for mobile devices, data showed Tuesday. The company shipped 1.07 billion cells last year, claiming 26 percent of the global lithium-ion battery market, according to the data by Japanese market researcher B3. One cell is generally used for batteries for smartphones or tablet PCs, while a larger number of cells are used for bigger batteries such as those for electric cars.