Moody's slashes Nissan rating to junk status: maintains negative outlook: Report 

Moody's Ratings said it has downgraded its rating of Nissan Motor's credit to Junk status, on the back of a weak and worsening outlook for the company's credit profile. It slashed Nissan's senior unsecured rating to Ba1 from Baa3 and retained its negative outlook, Reuters noted.

It "reflects Nissan's weak profitability driven by slowing demand for its ageing model portfolio," Moody's noted. 

Moody's expects free cash flow of Nissan's car business to remain in the red throughout the fiscal year starting from April. The Japanese automaker's car business turned negative in the current fiscal year, the newswire reported. 

Its cash flow recovery was at risk from the global trade environment with potential American import tariffs on its sizeable production base in Mexico, Moody's noted. 

It added that Nissan's automotive business had substantial cash holdings that would provide sufficient liquidity for its negative free cash flow and debt maturities over the next 12 months.

The previous month, S&P Global Ratings cut the automaker's credit outlook to negative and affirmed its BB+ rating, Reuters stated. 

Last week, Nissan ended merger talks with Honda Motor. It said at that time it would provide an update on the turnaround programme within a month.