Well, they call it a LOAN for Japanese automakers, and a BAILOUT for American, so whatever you want to call it, and oh ya, almighty Nissan is thinking about it now too... here it is:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090303/as_japan_toyota.html


AP
Toyota in talks for Japan government loan
Tuesday March 3, 7:51 am ET
By Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer Toyota talking with Japan government about loan for finance unit amid projected net loss
TOKYO (AP) -- Toyota's financing unit is in talks with a Japanese government-backed bank on possible lending, the automaker said Tuesday, underlining the serious woes facing the car industry amid plunging global sales.


Toyota Motor Corp. said no details had been decided. Kyodo News and NHK TV reported earlier in the day, without identifying sources, that Toyota's auto loan unit, Toyota Financial Services, had asked for a 200 billion yen ($2 billion) government loan.

A spokesman for Toyota Financial Services said the talks with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation were among the various ways being studied to gain funding. The lender does 70 percent of its business in the U.S., where sales have been plunging and credit tightening.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation, which started helping cash-strapped Japanese businesses last year as the global financial crisis unfolded, said it does not comment on individual company matters. Some companies have been struggling for cash ahead of the fiscal year end of March 31.

The Finance Ministry said Tuesday it will provide an additional $5 billion from its foreign reserves this month to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, to make sure there is ample cash available for needy businesses. Tokyo has about $1 trillion in foreign reserves.

Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano also said the ministry stands ready to raise the money pool available for lending in yen from 800 billion yen now to 1.2 trillion yen to help companies ride out the deepening global slump.

Toyota, which makes the Camry sedan and the Prius hybrid, had been growing solidly before the U.S. financial crisis hit last year. But now it is expecting a 350 billion yen loss for the fiscal year through March, as plunging global demand and a strengthening yen batter earnings.

Toyota's projected red ink for the fiscal year through March would mark its first such annual net loss since 1950, and a sharp contrast from the record 1.72 trillion yen profit it racked up the previous year.

Toyota is still faring better than General Motors and Chrysler, which together have received $17.4 billion in emergency loans from the U.S.
government, and asked for an additional $21.6 billion in aid last month.

Nissan Motor Co. has said that it is considering various types of government aid, but it declined to say Tuesday whether it was requesting for Japan Bank for International Cooperation loans. Nissan has forecast a 265 billion yen net loss for the fiscal year through March.

Toyota shares fell 0.3 percent to 3,060 yen. The news of the lending talks broke before trading ended in Tokyo.

 

Some folks are about to get a heapin' helpin' of feathers.

 

Isn't it kinda ludicrous to think that the mighty Toyota juggernaut needs government help to survive the economic downturn? It's not like they're fending off the wolves at the door, they're coming off a string of real strong years of sales/revenue growth.

 

Aren't they still making profit, though?

 

They were for a long time, but it appears one year of red ink and they need help???

(From above: )
Toyota, which makes the Camry sedan and the Prius hybrid, had been growing solidly before the U.S. financial crisis hit last year. But now it is expecting a 350 billion yen loss for the fiscal year through March, as plunging global demand and a strengthening yen batter earnings.

Toyota's projected red ink for the fiscal year through March would mark its first such annual net loss since 1950, and a sharp contrast from the record 1.72 trillion yen profit it racked up the previous year.

 

That's really hard to believe

 

You're not kidding.

This is their fanance arm, so it'd be like GMAC asking for help, and not so much GM itself, but still an sign that dominos are starting to fall in Toyota-Land too.

You have to assume that Toyota has massive cash reserves available... where did all the profit go from all those plus-years? Yes a lot gets rolled into new product R&D, etc, but shouldn't they be able to handle this on their own?

At least GM was able to survive a few years on it's own while bleeding massive amounts of cash each quarter.

 

Exactly my point. They've been making profit year after year for decades, and at the first sign of a loss, they go running out for government assistance. What did they do with all that profit?

 

It's probably less a case of *needing* the money, and more a case of "well, if everyone else is getting free money, why don't we get in line?"

Which speaks volumes about Toyota's integrity.

 

I hope Toyota gets the same kind of blowback that GM got from the public. On a lot of sites people were saying they would never buy American again because of the bailouts/loans.

 

Yeah, that won't happen.
People will somehow understand Toyota's plight and sympathize with them.

 

My money says this story never makes a major US news paper or television show.

 

This thread started on July 11, 2008...
Toyota consolidating truck plants, building Prius in USA
Look at post #15 - "I (particularly) got lambasted for bringing the idea that Toyota would be equally hard-hit for investing billions into a new full-size truck at the beginning of this market shift. Some said the reason Dodge and Ford were singled-out for scrutiny was because they are strapped for cash - maybe so, but a bad decision is a bad decision, I don't care who you are."

THAT post links you to an even EARLIER thread (10June08) in which post #8 says,"While the point of the article may be noteworthy - the direction of the disaster being aimed at Ford and Dodge directly seems naive IMO. It is going to affect ALL makers of SUVs and pickups... big, medium, and small sized. Why was Ford and Dodge singled out for scrutiny? Because they just did revamps? Honestly, these projects were signed-off and well underway back when gas was still $2.xx/gallon so there was nothing short of a crystal ball that would have changed the minds of management - the projects are/were justified under conditions then-present.

In fact, I'd go so far as to speculate the OPPOSITE way and say that breathing this renewed life into their models will serve Ford and Dodge well in the next 3-5 years, as they should be poised to maintain or gain in the remaining market, because I think people who will still buy a full-sized truck based on need for it will also look to make a longer-lasting purchase. "

I will not break my arm trying to pat the guy who wrote that on the back... but in humble servitude... he deserves a little credit for his understanding of the situation almost 8/9 months before it became obvious to someone at the Associated Press. Toyota and Honda will be profoundly affected by the economic downturn as well as anyone. Maybe they are in a better position to survive - I sure hope so after their banner years of growth. But that can also mean that they have more assets to depreciate because their new plants, new tools, and new lines are all brand new and carry full market value, where the assets of Ford, GM, and Chrysler have been established and depreciated to a much further extent. IOW, better to lose 30% of the value of a house tha is 20 years old and nearly paid off, than to lose 30% of a house you just finished building and moved into last month. You are upside-down BIG-TIME in the new house, but you could still be in a position of positive equity in the old house.

Likewise, I hope someone is listening to that guy in those earlier posts when he says things are going to get real ugly in 30 days. I just posted last month in the Mustang 2010 thread that the automakers are going to be amidst a bloodbath... we are about to be shocked by some of the models that are going into dormancy and oblivion... soon. ... and some of them are japanese too.
Perhaps we need to start looking at what it will take to keep Camro and Mustang ALIVE as opposed to what flavor of heated seats and IRS we want in them?!?!

 

Umm... Toyota is asking for money from the Japanese government... how is that supposed to **** off your typical US taxpayer?

It may make them more understanding of GM's situation (hey Toyota has to do it too), but it's not going to have the same impact as "hey you decided to buy a Civic instead of a Cobalt which is fine and all being your choice as a consumer in the free market, but you'll still pay for that Cobalt one way or the other... in this case we're going to bail out the guys making the Cobalt using your tax dollars... better luck next time... just buy GM so we don't have to prop them up with your money indirectly.

 

Well I guess the only other option would be to put a big tariff or tax on Japanese cars since the Japanese are trying to put American industry out of business by subsidizing their products.

How can US companies compete with Japanese companies that get a competitive advantage from their government. You can say "well built a better car" but the Japanese companies will just get more money to build a product that exceeds or matches the American product.

Read up on what the US did to Jamaica and their domestic milk production. http://eurostep.antenna.nl/detail_pu...rence_jamaicad