There was a time when the Nissan Sentra was ubiquitous. I drove a ‘94 for years… manual windows, cloth seats, bulletproof engine. Nothing fancy. Just a humble little box that got you to work, the store, and back again without asking for much. The kind of car you miss only when it’s gone.
That kind of stability looks to be in the rear-view mirror for Nissan these days.
According to internal emails reported by Reuters, Nissan is asking its suppliers for “urgent” agreements to delayed payment in an effort to free up cash. The ask? Push back payments by up to 90 days. That’s a hard ask.
How Cars Get Built in Japan (The Part Suppliers Get The Short End of the Stick)
If you’re familiar with how Japanese automakers treat their suppliers, these requests aren’t totally surprising.
There’s a long-standing culture of corporate subservience among subcontractors… one that tilts sharply in favor of the big automakers. As recently as March, Japan’s Fair Trade Commission found Nissan underpaid subcontractors, forcing them to swallow increased costs without compensation.
So if you’re wondering how Nissan feels so comfortable turning the screws now… it’s because this is the system they helped build.
The Timing Couldn’t Be Worse
It’s not just cashflow woes. Nissan’s crisis comes on the eve of a full-scale trade war.
Trump’s 25% tariff on imported Japanese vehicles and parts has gone into effect, and Nissan may be hard hit. A full third of their U.S. vehicles are still imported. The rest come from their U.S. operations… like the factory in Smyrna, Tennessee, where some of their 21,000 American employees build their ubiquitous economy cars, as well as some of their luxury Infiniti lineup.
Even those domestically produced vehicles rely heavily on Japanese components. And when the tariffs take hold? Every nut, bolt, and circuit board is going to get pricier.
Nissan is Not Dead Yet… But It’s Asking for Life Support
Nissan isn’t officially on death watch. Not yet. That’s simply because it has an enormous war-chest, with $15.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents, compared to a $4.5 billion net annual loss for the financial year ending in March.
It’s getting hard to ignore the warning signs, though. All three major ratings agencies have cut their debt to “junk” status. Sales have softened, so much so that no forecast is coming. The brand has no breakout EVs, no hyped-up AI strategy, and no billion-dollar media circus to carry them through the storm.
What they do have is a shrinking pile of cash, increasingly put-upon suppliers, and a whole lot of Americans like me… folks who used to drive their cars and still wish them well.
But wishing doesn’t pay invoices.
When a company starts asking vendors to wait three months before cashing a check, what they’re really saying is: We need help. And fast.
