Tokyo, Jan 14: Japanese automobile maker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (MMC) will ask its main shareholders, including German-US auto giant Daimlerchrysler, to inject 100 billion Yen (943 million dollars), a report said today. The country's fourth-ranked carmaker, 37.3 per cent owned by Daimlerchrysler, will seek a capital injection also from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. And trading firm Mitsubishi Corp., the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.
The three shareholders are likely to agree to the automaker's request and Mitsubishi Motors plans to use the fresh capital to develop two to three new models a year starting in 2006, the paper said.
In addition to financial assistance, the core Mitsubishi group firms are considering sending executives to the automaker to support its management, it said.
The company issued a two-line statement dismissing the article as "based on speculation".
"There are no facts to announce at present," it said.
Mitsubishi Motors' finances have deteriorated due to an increase in defaults within its auto financing operations in north America as well as poor sales in the region and Japan.
Bureau Report