Japan’s state-owned export credit agency has accepted to give Nissan Motor up to $2 billion as part of a credit agreement to assist it to finance auto sales in the United States.
The money is part of a wider $4.1 billion credit agreement for Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation, a unit of Nissan North America, Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) said in a press release on Wednesday.
The money should help the Japanese company sell vehicles in the United States by permitting it to provide consumers with loans that they can repay in monthly instalments, the export credit agency added in the statement.
JBIC considers the United States as an important market for Japanese automobile manufacturers. Sales finance has become a significant tool in business strategy.
“This case provides financial support for Nissan’s overseas business development,” JBIC said.
JBIC has provided loans for overseas sales financing to other automakers such as $78 million October agreement with Honda Motor in Brazil, and one in September for Toyota Motor in South Africa. JBIC did not reveal the amount for that deal.
The recent agreement with Nissan is over three times as much as a $582 million loan extended by JBIC in July to help it finance auto sales in Mexico.
A JBIC spokesman said the government export credit agency implemented the same lending standards as private banks.
Nissan is concentrating on key markets as it pulls back from the rapid expansion led by former CEO Carlos Ghosn.
It is looking to boost market share with new models in the United States, China and Japan as they rebound from a demand decline triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have financing from a variety of different ways and JBIC is one of them,” said a Nissan spokeswoman.
This month, Nissan slashed its operating loss forecast for the year to March 2021 by 28%, albeit still to a record of about 340 billion yen ($3.2 billion), helped by a recovery in demand.
