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TOKYO -- Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA, said the global financial crisis may deter automakers from forming partnerships.

The key to surviving the credit crunch is having plenty of cash on hand, Ghosn told a business management forum here today. Companies aren't "going to be risking cash for a strategic move while they have absolutely no clue how long this crisis or meltdown is going to last," he said.

Ghosn's comments counter last week's media reports that Tokyo-based Nissan, which was rescued by French automaker Renault almost a decade ago, may be poised to buy a 20 percent stake in Chrysler LLC, one of Detroit's three money-losing automakers. He dismissed such reports as speculation.

"I don't see so many deals coming," Ghosn said. "I don't think you're going to see many companies venturing in strategic operations involving cash."

Ghosn also predicted that the U.S. market downturn will last at least through 2010. U.S. sales dropped 12.8 percent through September from a year earlier, and some forecasters have predicted that October sales totals may be the lowest in more than 17 years.

"We have not yet seen the worst," Ghosn said. He said the financial crisis is hurling the industry into "uncharted waters."

"This is not going to be a short-term crisis," he said, predicting rising levels of unemployment. "I don't think we're going to get out of it in 2009 or even in 2010."

Riding out the storm will require creative thinking, he said. He then suggested that central banks may need to start financing companies directly to stabilize the financial system.