Nissan Motor Co is likely to receive more than 100 billion yen in low-interest loans set up by the U.S. government to promote the development of and transition to electric vehicles and other fuel-efficient cars, sources familiar with the matter said Friday. Nissan is the first foreign automaker that is close to winning approval for the U.S. direct loans, opening up the possibility for Japan's third-largest automaker to study producing zero-emission electric vehicles in the United States.
Left out of the fierce competition between Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co over low-priced hybrids, Nissan apparently hopes to regain its clout in green technology on the back of financial support from the U.S. government.
In a stark departure from his predecessor's policies, U.S. President Barack Obama has advocated a "Green New Deal," which calls for shoring up the economy and creating jobs through heavy investments in environmental technologies.
In choosing recipients of the loans, the U.S. government apparently feels the need to extract cooperation from foreign companies to accelerate the development and spread of green technology as well as to fend off criticism of protectionism, the sources said.
Access to the U.S. loans is also likely to alter Nissan's global production plans for electric vehicles, they added.
Nissan plans to roll out an electric vehicle in both Japan and the United States during fiscal 2010 through March 2011 and has already decided to manufacture the model at its plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The company is also studying locally producing electric vehicles in China, where it hopes to begin selling the cars by the beginning of 2011.
The total amount of $25 billion (about 2.35 trillion yen) to be provided in direct loans is part of the U.S. government's program to support advances in fuel economy and establishment of manufacturing facilities in the United States to produce green cars.
In addition to Nissan, speculation is rife that U.S. auto giant Ford Motor Co will also be eligible to receive the loans. The program is separate from emergency loans provided to embattled U.S. automakers such as General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC.
In addition to the absence of popular hybrids, Nissan has also lagged behind other Japanese rivals including Mitsubishi Motors Corp and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, the maker of the Subaru brand, which both plan to launch electric cars in July in Japan.
Automakers worldwide have been scrambling to clinch a lead in green technology to secure their survival, especially at a time when Toyota's new Prius and Honda's Insight hybrids seem to be beating the severe global auto slump on the back of booming orders.
