panthers are best at max range. like shephard said, their pen is typically high enough that they dont benefit from getting closer. the enemy tanks will benefit from getting close to the panther. not moving lets tanks get close and/or get to the panthers rear armor (which is lower than most tanks).
id say kiting is your best option considering the other tanks will have the same accuracy and scatter penalties.
Actually since all American tanks have a 0.75 accuracy on the move, there might be a lot more merit to staying still than chasing/backpedaling/getting into a moving battle (though the M36 and M10 have a small reload penalty too it doesn't cover the bonus).
Though on the bright side, the low RoF of the Panther is kind of a blessing in disguise- its fairly easy to guesstimate how long it is to the next shot and give it a stop order before it fires before resuming movement.
Also it's surprising how much better the Command Panther feels just from the increased sight range. Allowing the normal Panther to spot for itself, I think, would go a long way towards making it more attractive for the Wehr faction.