Nissan Motor Co.'s long road to reconstruction and the ongoing realignment of Japan's automobile industry is far from over -- in fact it may have only just begun, according to auto industry observers.
Renault is expected to inject a hefty 500 billion yen into Nissan, and the financially troubled automaker will use the money to help reduce its huge interest-bearing liabilities, estimated at 2 trillion yen.
But even after Renault's capital participation, the Nissan group will still be saddled with a large number of interest-bearing liabilities when it closes its books for fiscal 1998 on March 31. "What Nissan most fears now should be the possibility of its credit ratings falling, which would make it difficult for its group to raise funds," said Nobuaki Yanachi, automobile analyst at Kankaku Securities Co.