Even Toyota Asks For Help
连丰田也求助
Toyota Motor asks for government help. Even in these times, that headline comes as a shock.
丰田汽车公司(Toyota Motor Corp.)向政府求助。就算是在当前的低迷形势下，这个消息还是让人震惊。
Toyota Financial Services is in talks with Japan's state-run export bank to line up financing, it said Tuesday. The business funds loans and leases on Toyota's cars, something that's getting tougher by the day along with drivers' ability to repay debts. Toyota Financial says tricky U.S. credit markets prompted it to seek another source of funds.
为丰田汽车贷款和租赁业务提供资金的Toyota Financial Services周二称，正与日本国有出口银行谈判，申请融资。融资正变得越来越难，买车和租车者的偿债能力也日渐下降。Toyota Financial表示，动荡的美国信贷市场促使其寻求另外的资金来源。
Other Japanese car makers could be quick on its heels. The news came just hours after the Finance Ministry said it will lend the Japan Bank for International Cooperation $5 billion of foreign-exchange reserves to provide aid to companies, breaking with a history of closely guarding the nation's $1 trillion in reserves.
日本其他汽车厂商可能也会很快采取行动。丰田宣布上述消息前几个小时，日本财务省刚刚宣布将从外汇储备中向日本国际协力银行(Japan Bank For International Cooperation)提供50亿美元贷款，用于为公司提供帮助，从而结束了严密保护日本规模达1万亿美元的外汇储备的历史。
Finding the cheapest source of funds is of course in Toyota's interest, but the timing of the news could be by design. In the past, Japan's policy makers have prodded healthier companies to lead the way in accepting state aid, to remove the stigma that might keep others from doing so.
得到代价最低的融资来源当然是丰田所关心的，但宣布这一消息的时机可能经过了精心设计。日本决策者以前曾鼓励状况较好的公司带头接受政府救助，借以澄清受助的“污名”，其它公司可能会因担心这一点而拒绝救助。
Toyota Financial is, after all, a critical part of the way Toyota sells cars in the U.S., so it will find ample support from a deep-pocketed parent, Moody's says. Toyota Motor ended December with more than $17 billion in cash and equivalents.
穆迪(Moody's)认为，毕竟Toyota Financial对丰田在美国销售汽车至关重要，因此它会从财大气粗的母公司得到大量帮助。截至12月，丰田汽车拥有逾170亿美元现金及现金等价物。
Still, this is a reminder that Toyota's problems go beyond just convincing heavily indebted Americans to buy cars. With used-car prices tumbling, the company already had to write down the value of cars that are coming off lease. Higher provisions for credit losses have also eaten up profits recently.
不过，这也表示丰田的问题不光是说服背负沉重债务的美国人购买汽车。随着二手车价格节节下跌，丰田已经不得不冲减租约到期的汽车的价值。加大信贷损失拨备也影响了最近的利润。
Toyota isn't alone in facing these challenges. But if the company whose wads of cash have it dubbed 'Bank of Toyota' is asking for help, that doesn't bode well for its rivals.
丰田并非唯一一个面临这些挑战的。但如果连这家因拥有充裕资金而被称为“丰田银行”的公司都要求助，对竞争对手来说也不是什么好兆头。
James Simms
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