In Midst of Global Recession Toyota Motor Corp Seeks Japan Bank Aid

The economic pain felt by American companies has stretched far beyond the borders of the United States of America. In fact, it has stretched so far that the monetary pinch has reached clear across the other side of the world. There is no doubt that there is global recession happening to the likes of which none have ever seen. This could not be more evident than with the recent uncovering that Toyota Motor Corp, the world's number one auto seller, is seeking its own form of a bailout from its government's bank.

The news comes on the heels of Toyota surpassing General Motors in auto sales for the first time ever making the Japanese car manufacturer the number one auto seller in the world. But with the sweet comes the sour and Toyota also recently announced that for the first time since 1950 the company would show a loss on the books. Now Toyota is seeking money in efforts to survive (source: finance.yahoo.com)

According to Kyodo News in Japan, the auto giant will seek 200 billion yen ($2 billion) from a government backed bank known as the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The bank usually does 70 percent of its lending and business practices in the United States, but has recently turned to its homeland as the American financial drama persists (source: finance.yahoo.com).

Toyota has not gone into great detail about how the money will be spent, but the fact that they are seeking government aid just underscores how bad the economic environment is getting. Though Toyota is still fairing much better than its American counterparts Ford and GM, this cry for help may be an unwanted sign of things to come.

While no one really knows how the entire situation will play itself out, it is scary to see the worlds biggest and best asking for help. Toyota Motor Corp was almost believed to immune to the bad economy, but as it is easy to see now, the auto maker has become caught up in the mess due to a ripple effect of the bad economy in America. Toyota may have enjoyed a prosperous run before the recession, but now that things are extremely bad, people are just not going into the showrooms and buying new cars at the pace they did just a few years back. Add to that the tightening of credit and restrictions on who can qualify for a car loan these days and you spell out one giant mess for not just Toyota, but the entire auto industry as a whole.