Nissan was the first company to issue securities backed by car loans that qualify for funding under the US government's $1,000bn loan financing programme - just in time to meet the plan's first deadline.

The carmaker is to sell $1.5bn bonds backed by car loans, after weeks of negotiations between the government, dealers, issuers and hedge funds over details of the documents that back the Federal Reserve's term asset-backed securities loan facility (Talf).