Nissan, Mazda may join Toyota/Honda in asking Japan for money

[MikeMike]

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/0...eking-japanese-govt-l/

Toyota has already stepped up and asked the Japanese government for a $2 billion loan to shore up its U.S. lending arm, Toyota Motor Credit Corp. We've also heard that Honda may do the same. Add Nissan and Mazda to the list now. The four biggest Japanese automakers will now all likely ask for government loans to help ensure that sufficient credit is available for U.S. customers to purchase their cars and trucks. While all four have seen sales fall less sharply than General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, each is still experiencing historically low sales in their biggest market: the U.S. Fortunately, the Japanese government has a lot of cash lying around, around $1 trillion in a foreign currency stockpile. About $5 billion has been earmarked and can be funneled through the nation's state-backed bank, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Only Toyota has officially requested loans, but Nissan, Honda and Mazda have all confirmed they will apply if the money's available.

Original Source: Automotive News, Subsq Req'd

Ya, someone will come in and say how it is for their loan operation, aka banks, but Its getting REALLY bad in the automotive industry. Parts stores are booming, parts manuf are dying, manufs are dying, sales companies are dying...

 

[Chunkee]

good..perhaps we will see good deals on cars? yes no? maybe?

Unlikely...

 

[soccerballtux]

They are perfectly capable of receiving money from the public sector. Just making sure people understand that. This is a completely different scenario; GM was not-- they had more debt than assets. Such is not the case for Toyota, Honda; they are never leveraged 1:1 like GM was. They are simply requesting that they get a better deal on a loan than the market will give them.

The market would not give GM a loan; period.

 

[GroundedSailor]

Actually you might just see better deals as the US$ is rising, making it more lucrative for foreign manufacturers to sell cars here. Sad for the domestic industry.

 

[StageLeft]

It is a rough time and soccerball is right, giving a loan to GM now is like giving it to your crack head friend who "promises to pay you back when he lands a job", subsequently gets high on your money and dies from an overdose. Toyota, also hemorrhaging sales (like most manufacturers now) is still otherwise a viable company.