TOKYO, March 31 (Reuters) - Embattled Japanese auto maker Mitsubishi Motors Corp plans to halt production of Mitsubishi-brand cars in the United States, the daily Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun reported on Wednesday.
The plan is part of a restructuring programme being drafted by its parent, DaimlerChrysler AG , the business daily said. The programme is expected to be announced in late April.
A Mitsubishi Motors spokesman said the company was checking into the report.
Mitsubishi, owned 37 percent by DaimlerChrysler, has been producing its Galant passenger car at its Illinois plant, its sole production site in the United States, since late last year.
The business daily said that, after a planned capital injection by the Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler into Mitsubishi's U.S. unit, the Illinois plant would produce only Chrysler-brand vehicles.
Another newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun, reported on Wednesday that Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, part of Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group and Mitsubishi Motors' main bank, had asked the state-owned Development Bank of Japan to extend a loan of up to 100 billion yen ($945 million) to Mitsubishi Motors.
Newspapers have reported that Mitsubishi could ask DaimlerChrysler and other shareholders for a capital injection of up to 300 billion yen. The Yomiuri said the total amount of money required for its rehabilitation could be over 400 billion yen.
Dogged by financial woes stemming in part from loose credit controls in North America, Mitsubishi last month jacked up its net loss forecast to 72 billion yen from 11 billion yen for the business year that ends on Wednesday, March 31. ($1=105.81 Yen)