Mazda is seeking loans totaling about 300 billion yen ($2.8 billion) from Japan’s three megabanks and other lenders to help it ride out the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reports.
The banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group alongside the Development Bank of Japan, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings and others are expected to agree to the loans, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said over the weekend.
Like many other car manufacturers, Mazda has been forced to reduce or halt production at its factories around the world for the past few months as governments have tried to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
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Mazda’s car sales and balance sheet had been weak even before the virus slammed the brakes on demand. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, Mazda’s interest-bearing debt of 650 billion yen ($6.07 billion) was far exceeding its cash and cash equivalents.
Mazda is far from the only Japanese car manufacturer seeking financial assistance during the pandemic. Toyota and Nissan have requested credit lines worth 1 trillion yen ($9.35 billion) and several hundreds of billions of yen respectively. In addition, Mitsubishi has called for 300 billion yen ($2.8 billion) in financing from lenders.
Mazda’s global vehicle sales by volume plunged by 33 percent from a year before in March, in response to a slump in demand from overseas markets including Europe and the United States.
