[drdingo21]

The article was from autonews.com

STUTTGART, Germany -- DaimlerChrysler AG said on Thursday it was pulling out of Mitsubishi Motors, leaving its bid to become a global carmaker in disarray and throwing the future of the ailing Japanese firm into doubt.

The group said that it had decided not to participate in a rescue capital increase planned by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. because it could not agree on an acceptable deal with other shareholders in the loss-making company.

It also said it would not provide any further financial support to Mitsubishi, Japan's only unprofitable carmaker.

"This clearly means separation," a DaimlerChrysler spokesman said, adding that the 37 percent stake would be booked as discontinued business until a buyer could be found.

Mitsubishi representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

The decision came after an extraordinary meeting of the DaimlerChrysler supervisory and management boards on Thursday.

Supervisory board sources said earlier that the company had discussed selling its 10 percent stake in South Korea's largest carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd., worth about 850 million euros ($1 billion), to help fund the Mitsubishi rescue.

Mitsubishi, Japan's fourth largest and only unprofitable carmaker, had been planning to present details of a 700 billion yen ($6.39 billion) bailout to shareholders on April 30.

Reeling from losses generated by a disastrous strategy of offering cheap car loans in the U.S., Mitsubishi is expecting a net loss of 72 billion yen for the 12 months to March 31. It had a profit of 37.36 billion yen the previous year.

Mitsubishi Motors' net automotive debt stood at around 726 billion yen six months ago, while total interest-bearing debt was 1.141 trillion.

"This could be the end for Mitsubishi if nobody else injects fresh capital," said one industry source.

DaimlerChrysler bought the stake in Mitsubishi over three years ago with a view to expanding its presence in Asia. It has since worked to establish closer production ties between the Japanese firm and its other problem child, U.S. automaker Chrysler, to cut costs.