Rating agency Moody's downgraded DaimlerChrysler, the German-US automotive manufacturer, late last week, but the company was already feeling the effects of credit erosion.

Moody's, which downgraded DaimlerChrysler from A1 to A2 on Friday, changed its outlook on the company in November. The announcement that the rating agency had taken a negative view of DC's future came on the day before the company priced a yen-denominated bond issue, too late for DaimlerChrysler to delay the deal and re-group.