Tokyo, May 05: A revival plan for Mitsubishi Motors Corp may cost as much as $4.6 billion, double initial estimates, and involve seeking fresh funds from institutional investors, a Japanese newspaper reported. Mitsubishi, Japan's fourth-largest automaker, is mired in losses and debt and is under pressure to come up with a restructuring plan after top shareholder Daimler Chrysler AG pulled out of a multi-billion dollar bail-out plan last month. The new plan would cost as much as 400 billion to 500 billion yen ($3.7 billion to $4.6 billion), compared with initial expectations of around 250 billion yen, and might include a debt-for-equity swap and approaching institutional investors for additional funding, sources close to the situation told the Asahi Shimbun. It added that the plan would be coordinated with other Mitsubishi firms - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Corp, and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi - and others later this week.
Officials at MMC were not available for comment. MMC has yet to recover from a recall scandal four years ago that exposed its decades-long practice of illegally hiding customer complaints, and it faces similar allegations over a design defect in trucks that were involved in accidents, including one that killed a woman two years ago. The company owes about $10.4 billion in interest-bearing debt and is expected to post a loss of 72 billion yen for the year to March 31 after an easy credit policy in the United States backfired. Company officials have said details of the new business plan would be announced by the end of May. Japanese stock markets were closed on Wednesday for the Golden Week holidays. Bureau Report