Report: Nissan Hunting for Credit to Backstop the Whole Shebang

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

As assembly plants turned out the lights across North America in late March, automakers were quick to call upon new credit lines to ensure fiscal stability in the coming months. No one’s really sure by just how much the coronavirus pandemic will hamper sales and profits.

While Nissan, cash-strapped as it is (and facing a new crisis after tackling too many in recent times), has already furloughed its U.S. workforce, that doesn’t seem to be enough to satisfy company bean counters. The automaker is reportedly on the hunt for available cash.

Knowledgeable sources tell Reuters that Nissan is seeking $4.6 billion in credit from major lenders, fearing that the virus’ impact on sales and production will be long lasting.

As we’ve stated before, the pandemic’s arrival both here and overseas couldn’t have come at a worse time for Nissan. The company, already on the ropes from a global sales slide and an increasingly unbalanced earnings sheet, is hardly a paragon of fiscal sustainability. An updated turnaround plan pushed by the company’s new CEO, Makoto Uchida, barely had time to leave the gate before the coronavirus nipped the enhanced streamlining efforts in the bud. The plan itself isn’t expected to be revealed until next month.

According to Reuters‘ sources, the amount of available cash Nissan’s looking to add to its rainy day reserves has not been finalized. A spokesperson told the outlet that Nissan is able to sustain its current operations on its own; however, they added that “the automaker was looking at various options to prepare for a possible crisis.”

[Image: Nissan]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Jeff S Jeff S on Apr 09, 2020

    I would be willing as a taxpayer to pay Nissan to not make vehicles. Terrible quality.

    • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on Apr 09, 2020

      Nothing to do with taxpayers and everything to do with politics and UAW (or lack of it).

  • Firestorm 500 Firestorm 500 on Apr 10, 2020

    Let them die. No bailout money from US taxpayers. If other countries want to put their cash on the line, fine. But those countries should first tell the US they don't need any more aid from us, if they now get it.

  • Jeff S Jeff S on Apr 10, 2020

    The taxpayers foot the bill. Nissan USA is not unionized so the UAW would not be in favor of the Government helping Nissan. I don't believe the politicians except maybe those from Tennessee and Mississippi would put Nissan on their list of companies to bailout. Unless Nissan starts to put more quality back in their vehicles it should either pull out of the USA or offer less vehicles and import their vehicles from Japan. Nissan use to make good reliable competitive vehicles but they have lost their way.

  • Jeff S Jeff S on Apr 12, 2020

    Agree it should be liquidated but it is likely to be sold to the Chinese.

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