Angry ABNN to Japs fuck off from big Serangoon you CROOKS!

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http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/jssd/2017-12-04/doc-ifypikwt6083442.shtml

原标题：日企再爆惊人丑闻，这次是被印度踢爆，印网友大怒：日企滚出印度

神户制钢造假

　　日本制造现在的日子真的很难过，神户制钢、日产汽车、斯巴鲁汽车、东芝电子相继因为造假丑闻引爆全球舆论的谴责，高田会社因制造杀人安全气囊被谴责以至于破产。近日三菱材料、东丽会社再被爆出造假丑闻，让全球丧失对“日本制造”的信心。

　　日本企业到底怎么了？日本制造完蛋了吗？究其原因，分析认为，美国强迫日本在1985年签订的《广场协议》是罪魁祸首，正因为这个协议，日元升值，日本制造汇率成本上升，制造了日本经济泡沫，并让日本这个泡沫破裂深陷“失落了三十年。销售不佳，利润下降，让日本企业投入研发和质量管理的资金减少，为了挽留客户，造假成为日企的常态。当前被揭发的日企造假丑闻都有十年或是十年以上的历史。

　　日本制造的困境在2017年集中爆发，在连续一系列造假、质量缺陷、破产、出售资产丑闻爆发之后，印度媒体再爆出日本企业在印度套取退税和补贴的丑闻。

　　近日，日产公司要求印度泰米尔纳德邦提前支付退税和补贴款项，提交给印度总理之后没有得到任何回复，随后日产将印度泰米尔纳德邦告上法庭，要求偿还7.7亿退税和补贴。日产起诉的依据是2016年印度同日本签订的《全面经济伙伴关系协定》，以及印度在2010年吸引外资提出的优惠条款，要求印度泰米尔纳德邦提前支付退税和补贴。

　　随即印度媒体发现在5年前印度马哈拉施特拉邦发生了类似的事件，一家名称为哈沃汽车公司向印度要求提前支付退税和补贴，为了加快推进退税和补贴进程，日产汽车接受了哈沃汽车的业务，哈沃公司被认为是日产公司套取印度退税和补贴的皮包公司。

　　有意思的是，这家名为哈沃的皮包公司注册的英文名为Hover Automotive，此前中国长城汽车的哈弗品牌，使用Hover在国外销售汽车，后来发现Hover被注册，哈弗汽车出口的英文名改为Haval。这事尚不知是纯属巧合，还是日本企业恶意满满的策划。

　　日本企业真的很缺钱吗？看起来是这样，缺钱的日本企业道德水准真是让人不敢恭维，或许也就是这样关键时刻，日本深藏的国民特性才会浮出水面吧。印度网友对此评价：这个失败的公司没有占据多少市场份额，也没有优秀的产品，现在他们是靠印度的退税和补贴来赚钱，这样的企业应该被赶出印度。（作者署名：前沿哨所）

 

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https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ssue-in-india-toyota/articleshow/61102763.cms

Studying possible impact of Kobe Steel issue in India: Toyota
PTI|
Updated: Oct 16, 2017, 05.06 PM IST
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Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Ford are major automobile companies to which Kobe Steel had supplied its products.
NEW DELHI: Japanese auto major Toyota today said it is studying the possible impact in India with regard to supplies by Kobe Steel which is mired in a controversy over falsification of data on the quality of its products.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Ford are major automobile companies to which Kobe Steel had supplied its products.

Ford said its models in India are not affected by the issue.

"Putting utmost priority on the safety of our customers, we are rapidly working to identify which vehicle models might be subject to this situation and what components were used, as well as what effect there might be on individual vehicles," a Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) spokesperson told PTI.

At the same time, the company is also considering what measures need to be put in place going forward, the spokesperson added.

When contacted, a Ford India spokesperson said: "We don't have any exposure to Kobe Steel across our product portfolio in India."

Queries sent to Nissan Motor India and Honda Cars remained unanswered.

Japan's Kobe Steel has admitted that it sold products that failed quality control tests to about 500 companies. It falsified data to pass the failed products.

The impacted companies globally were from across various industrial sectors including aviation, electronics, automobiles and bullet trains.

 

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https://www.thequint.com/news/india/will-steel-scandal-in-japan-affect-india-bullet-train-project

Will a Steel Scandal in Japan Affect India’s Bullet Train Project?
Prabuddha Jain14.10.17
India4 min read
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India has been working on getting bullet trains for a while. Japan is helping India achieve that dream for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai train, but a major scandal unfolding there is likely to have repercussions in India as well. The question is, will this scandal have a big enough impact to derail the dream of a functioning bullet train by 2022.

What Is the Scandal in Japan?
Kobe Steel Ltd, a 112-year-old Japanese steelmaker has been accused of falsifying data on the strength and durability of some of its copper and aluminum products. Two of the companies operating the high speed Shinkansen trains have said that they have found sub-standard parts, supplied by Kobe steel.

According to Bloomberg, Central Japan Railway Co, which operates bullet trains between Tokyo and Osaka, said aluminium components connecting wheels to train cars failed quality tests. Of the tested parts, 310 were found to be sub-standard, all supplied by Kobe steel. West Japan Railway Co, which runs services from Osaka to Fukuoka, has also found sub-standard parts.


Kobe Steel has admitted to the allegations against it. The company conceded that it had faked data about the strength and durability of some aluminium and copper products, which are used in everything from bullet trains and aircraft to cars and rockets.
Kobe Steel’s CEO Hiroya Kawasaki has apologised in person for the scandal. Over 200 companies have been supplied with sub-standard products. Investigation into about 100 of these has been completed, according to the company. Results of the investigation will be released in 15 days.

“I deeply apologise for causing concern to many people, including all users and consumers,” CEO Kawasaki said. All four of the company’s factories were found to have issues of bad quality aluminium parts. The scandal is now being closely monitored by companies like Toyota, Honda and Kawasaki, all having received sub-quality products. Within two days, Kobe Steel’s share value fell by 36 percent.

Effects on India
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s first stop on his recent India visit was Ahmedabad, to inaugurate the bullet train project with PM Narendra Modi. The project is top priority for the Modi government; they want the Ahmedabad-Mumbai corridor functioning by 2022. For this, Japan has given India a significant loan, along with technical help. But with this new scandal coming to light, fears over the project getting delayed has surfaced.

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe inaugurated the bullet train project with PM Narendra Modi, recently.
(Photo: File/PTI)
Speaking to The Quint, former railway board member VK Agnihotri said:

I worked with Japan’s rail engineering division on some projects in the 60s. They have very exacting quality standards. They have no patience for any defects and shortcomings. A scandal like this is quite surprising, but the chances of it compromising safety are very low.
On the likelihood of the scandal affecting India, he said there is still time before India gets to the rail coach stage, so there is a chance things might fall into place before that, avoiding any delays for India.

Ethics in May, Scandal in October
Ironically, in just May of 2017, Kobe Steel came out with a ‘core values report’, enshrining six pledges taken by all Kobe employees. They can still be found on KOBELCO’s website. The first of these is “heightened sense of ethics and professionalism”. It states, “We not only follow the law, corporate rules and societal norms, but also conduct our corporate activity in fair and sound manner with the highest sense of ethics and professionalism.

In May 2017, Kobe Steel came out with a ‘core values report’.
(Photo Courtesy: Kobe)
India and Japan’s relationship goes beyond bullet trains and is unlikely to be shaken now. The bullet train project is important to both. It doesn’t seem probable that Japan will let any delays happen.

(This article was originally published in Quint Hindi.)

(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT in partnership with #MyRightToBreathe to find a solution to pollution. Send in your suggestions to [email protected] or WhatsApp @ +919999008335)


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http://www.thehindu.com/business/In...made-in-japan-fault-lines/article19862599.ece

Kobe Steel scandal latest to bare ‘Made-in-Japan’ fault lines
Reuters
TOKYO, October 14, 2017 21:14 IST
Updated: October 14, 2017 21:14 IST

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Japanese firms are likely failing modern compliance standards amid competition
Under the once-vaunted “keiretsu” system of close, trust-based ties between manufacturers and suppliers, “Made-in-Japan” became a byword for industrial quality and reliability.

That reputation has eroded over recent years.

Kobe Steel is just the latest in a string of corporate scandals involving data tampering and other methods of cheating to tarnish the Japan Inc. quality stamp.

It may be a sign that the government’s push to improve corporate governance is seeing greater disclosure of wrongdoing.

But the root cause is more likely that Japanese manufacturers are failing modern compliance standards as they grapple with a shrinking domestic market and increased global competition.

As the focus has shifted to market mechanisms instead of cosy relationship-based arrangements, Japanese manufacturers have had to compete on price and expand their client base.

“Growing global competition has forced Japanese manufacturers to cut costs to be more efficient, while fulfilling a production quota which is often difficult to achieve,” said Motokazu Endo, a lawyer at Tokyo Kasumigaseki law office.

The “keiretsu” system was the bedrock of Japan’s automotive industry. As the market has become more competition based, those automakers now invest less money in their suppliers and spend less time checking what those suppliers’ factories are producing, says Hitoshi Kaise, an auto industry consultant and partner at Roland Berger.

Beyond that, Japan’s economy has suffered decades of anaemic growth, bogged down in deflation with its population shrinking and with growing competition from its Asian neighbours.

Those pressures have potentially whittled away at Japanese firms’ ability to compete, says Hideaki Miyajima, a Waseda University professor and corporate governance expert.

‘Gone too far’

The list of manufacturer miscreants is long, and growing.

Nissan Motor Co. has had to recall every new car it sold in Japan in the last three years after it falsified safety checks.

Both Suzuki Motor Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have faced scandals over fuel economy tests on their vehicles, and there was wrongdoing by the now bankrupt air bag maker Takata, Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. and Asahi Kasei Corp.

“While focusing on targets was right in the beginning it has gone too far, with companies that can’t hit their targets resorting to deception,” says Hiroshi Osada, a production quality expert and Bunkyo University professor.

Over the last 15 years compliance rules have become stricter but many Japanese companies have carried on with practices common in the past, says Nobuo Gohara, a lawyer specialising in compliance, who took part in an audit of Olympus Corp. after its accounting scandal in 2011.

‘Lying on factory floor’

“There are many of these problems lying dormant on the factory floor,” he said.

Japan runs the risk it will “lose out as other Asian economies, including China, progressively raise their standards of quality and reliability,” said Professor Thomas Clarke, a corporate governance expert at the University of Technology in Sydney.

And it’s not just dodgy data.

Conglomerate Toshiba Corp. is still battling an accounting scandal, and there is a litany of wrongdoing at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex.

Just this month, Japan’s nuclear regulator said Japan Nuclear Fuel had violated safety rules at its Rokkasho site by fabricating records to say safety checks had been carried out. The plant’s start data has been delayed 23 times. Even when moves are taken to strengthen external monitoring of companies, “it’s not possible to conduct checks day in, day out,” said Mr. Osada at Bunkyo University, who sat on an external panel that audited Toyota during its 2010 recall crisis.

Companies must do more to develop a culture in which workers are able to raise concerns and say ‘no’ to their bosses, and in which teamwork is used to catch wrongdoing by other employees, Mr. Osada added.

More attention should be focused on Japan’s board members, who are not active enough in engaging with scandals when they occur, says Shin Ushijima, lawyer and president of the Japan Corporate Governance Network, noting a tendency for companies to be over-reliant on appointing outside panels that are not truly independent.

Corporate governance reforms are having some impact, says Mr. Ushijima. At Toshiba, he said, “the board, while not perfect, was improved after it was reshuffled.”

 

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The big Serangoon Nehs are getting piss by Japanese crooks' frauds.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...bullet-train-project/articleshow/61054718.cms

Japanese steel scandal could derail Modi's bullet train project
Bloomberg|
Oct 12, 2017, 08.16 PM IST
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Central Japan Railway Co, which operates bullet trains between Tokyo and Osaka, said aluminum components connecting wheels to train cars failed Japanese industry standards
By Kiyotaka Matsuda and Masumi Suga

Kobe Steel Ltd.’s fake data scandal penetrated deeper into the most hallowed corners of Japanese industry as iconic bullet trains were found with sub-standard parts supplied by the steelmaker.

While there’s no safety risk, two companies operating the high-speed Shinkansen trains said they found Kobe Steel components that failed to meet Japanese industry standards. The chief executive officer of the 112-year old steelmaker apologized for the crisis as compromised materials turn up in everything from cars to DVDs. The affair has wiped off more than a third of the company’s market value and led to speculation it may be broken up.

The latest scandal to hit Japanese manufacturing erupted Sunday after the country’s third-largest steelmaker admitted it faked data about the strength and durability of some aluminium and copper. As clients from Toyota Motor Corp. to General Motors Co. scrambled to determine if they used the suspect materials and whether safety was compromised in their cars, trains and planes, the company said two more products were affected and further cases could come to light. There have been no reports of products being recalled or safety concerns raised.

“I deeply apologize for causing concern to many people, including all users and consumers,” Kobe Steel Chief Executive Officer Hiroya Kawasaki said at a meeting with a senior government official on Thursday. He said trust in the company has fallen to “zero” and he will work to restore its reputation. “Safety is the top priority.”

Shares in the company rebounded 0.5 percent Thursday, after plunging 36 percent over the previous two days. About $1.6 billion of Kobe Steel’s market value has been wiped out since the revelations were made.

While shares collapsed, bond risk has spiked. Five-year credit-default swaps insuring the company’s debt against default have jumped 222 basis points to 279, the highest since February 2016, according to data from CMA.

Figures were systematically fabricated at all four of Kobe Steel’s local aluminium plants, with the practice dating back as long as 10 years for some products, the company said Sunday. Data was also faked for iron ore powder and target materials that are used in DVDs and LCD screens, it said three days later.

Central Japan Railway Co, which operates bullet trains between Tokyo and Osaka, said aluminium components connecting wheels to train cars failed Japanese industry standards. Of the tested parts, 310 were found to be sub-standard and will be replaced at the next regular inspection, spokesman Haruhiko Tomikubo said. They were produced by Kobe Steel over the past five years, he said. West Japan Railway Co, which runs services from Osaka to Fukuoka, also found sub-standard parts made by Kobe Steel.

Investigations have been completed on about 100 of 200 companies to which Kobe Steel supplied the affected products, Kawasaki said. The company plans to release the findings of safety checks for the products in about two weeks, and the causes of the issue and planned countermeasures within a month.

The company supplies nearly 60 percent of the aluminium disc blanks used in the world’s hard drives with production centres in Japan and Malaysia, according to its latest annual report. Kobe Steel is one of only two major suppliers for the market and that means -- at the very worst -- hard drive failures could increase, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Simon Chan.

While there have not been any reports that Kobe Steel products posed safety risks, the company is likely to face lawsuits from investors, customers, consumers and regulators in Japan and U.S., experts say. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kotaro Nogami on Wednesday said the faked data undermined the basis of fair trade, calling it “inappropriate.”

If lenders were to take over Kobe Steel, a break-up of the company along business lines could be beneficial for shareholders and rivals, according to Thanh Ha Pham, an analyst at Jefferies Japan Ltd., who has a “Buy” rating for the company. Kobe’s steel business would fetch roughly 200 billion yen ($1.78 billion), he said.

Japan’s steel industry is dominated by JFE Holdings Inc. and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., which accounted for about 70 percent of the country’s production in the year ended March.

“I talked with management of JFE and I think they are very happy to buy Kobe Steel’s steel businesses,” Pham said Thursday on Bloomberg TV. “That would be a very good scenario, to have further restructuring in the steel industry in Japan.”

JFE said it isn’t actively considering purchasing Kobe Steel’s steel business.

 

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https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinio...eels-fake-data-scandal-portends/#.WiVs2yclGKk


What Kobe Steel’s fake data scandal portends

• Oct 22, 2017
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The product data falsification by Kobe Steel Ltd. does more than call into question the management responsibility of the major steel maker. It damages global trust in the quality control of Japanese manufacturing. Priority should be on ascertaining whether the safety of Kobe Steel products has been compromised — a daunting task in itself given that the products in question were shipped to roughly 500 clients both in Japan and overseas for use in electric appliances, aircraft, train cars, automobile components, defense equipment and so on.

What should also be examined is whether the problem that surfaced at Kobe Steel is an isolated case among Japanese manufacturers. Over the past year or so, globally operating major Japanese firms have confessed to lapses in their manufacturing processes, including falsification of fuel-efficiency data by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and improper vehicle inspections by Nissan Motor Co. Nissan admitted Thursday that safety inspections by unauthorized staff had continued at four of its six domestic plants even after the automaker disclosed the problem and its president offered an apology in early October. Nissan is suspending all car shipments for sale in the domestic market and may consider additional recalls of cars already sold with improper inspection.




The parties involved should realize that not just the management of individual companies, but trust in the “made-in-Japan” brand, is at stake.

Kobe Steel disclosed in early October that it had tampered with quality data of its aluminum and copper products to make it look like they met all specifications and Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS). It acknowledged that such practices had been going on at its plants for around 10 years in an organized manner, with the knowledge of managers.

Subsequent disclosures showed that the data falsification extended to a total of 13 products, including the firm’s mainstay steel. The number of clients to which the questionable products have been shipped from its group companies expanded from about 200 initially to 500, affecting not just domestic but overseas companies. Aircraft giants Boeing and Airbus as well as U.S. automakers General Motors and Ford are reportedly looking into their possible use of the products and their safety. The scandal has prompted an inquiry by the U.S. Justice Department, which demanded that Kobe Steel provide documents related to the products with tampered data. The European Union’s aviation safety agency has urged firms engaged in aircraft manufacturing and maintenance to confirm whether they use Kobe Steel products and recommended that they suspend their use.

Because of the extent of its products’ reach, Kobe Steel’s case was broadly covered in overseas media. Some outlets reported on the latest scandal in the context of a string of problems at major Japanese manufacturers that have marred the reputation of the quality of the nation’s manufacturing industry, including the massive recall by air bag maker Takata Corp. Kobe Steel’s falsification of product data is said to have taken place not only in its domestic plants but its manufacturing units in China and Thailand. There are also reports that the practice has been going on much longer than the company has admitted. Two of the nine group companies that were involved in the product data manipulation were found to have similarly tampered with product data in the past — an indication that promised efforts to prevent recurrence of such lapses have not been sufficient.

Automakers Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda and Subaru said Thursday they have confirmed the safety and durability of their cars that use Kobe Steel’s aluminum sheets supplied with falsified data, although they will continue to check their vehicles that use the steel maker’s other products. Because of the broad extent of the use of Kobe Steel products — including in areas that affect the safety of consumers and passengers — it is expected to take some time before the safety of all the products shipped with tampered quality data is ascertained.

The latest problem at Kobe Steel should prompt Japan’s manufacturing industries and regulatory authorities to examine whether similar practices are taking place elsewhere. Examples of lapses in production processes at firms where problems have been exposed suggest that plant workers engage in falsifications to meet stringent targets set to survive tightening competition. However, compliance with relevant laws and regulations is the minimum duty imposed on manufacturing operations. Failure of management to check and stop the practices calls their governance into question. Along with exposing the entire picture of the problem at Kobe Steel, relevant authorities should get to the bottom of why such irregular practices take place among Japan’s manufacturers.

Keywords
scandals, Kobe Steel, steel makers

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http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/kobe-steel-nissan-scandals-tarnish-image-of-japan-inc


Kobe Steel, Nissan scandals tarnish image of Japan Inc

Just over a week since revelations of a cheating scandal that plunged Kobe Steel in to crisis and ensnared hundreds of firms, the embattled steelmaker's shares skid to five-year lows as investors worried about the financial and legal fallout.
Published
Oct 15, 2017, 11:50 am SGT
TOKYO (AFP) - Embarrassing scandals at Kobe Steel and Nissan have tarnished the reputation of Japan Inc for quality, as once-mighty industrial world-beaters battle fierce global competition and shrinking profit margins.

Once again, the image of a corporate boss bowing deeply in apology before the cameras has been splashed across Japan's newspapers and sparked a fresh bout of national soul-searching.

Kobe Steel's chief admitted his firm had falsified quality data in products shipped to about 500 clients, including carmaker Toyota, aircraft manufacturers and defence contractors.


The news that the affected parts were also used in Japan's "hinkansen bullet trains deepened the humiliation for the "Made in Japan" brand that was once a byword for quality.

The revelation wiped US$1.8 billion (S$2.43 billion) off its share price over the past week - a drop of more than 40 per cent - as the scandal deepened and widened to other products such as steel wires, a key company product.

The Kobe Steel news came just days after Nissan recalled more than one million vehicles in Japan after admitting that staff without proper authorisation conducted final vehicle inspections before shipping them to dealers.


"Once the Japanese way of manufacturing won the praise of the world. But now jobs are being outsourced and factories are sent overseas. Things have changed," said Koji Morioka, professor emeritus at Kansai University.

Intensifying global competition and an unending drive to cut costs have resulted in a situation in developed countries like Japan where workers keep quiet to protect themselves even if they see wrongdoing, added the expert.

"As globalisation continues, companies are expanding local production, and emerging economies are becoming ever more competitive," Morioka said.

Indian, Chinese pressure
The admissions came as the global industry landscape goes through sweeping transformations, experts said.

Costly workers in mature economies like Japan are directly pitted against cheap factory staff in emerging markets in a competition for jobs.

Experienced workers with stable contracts are being replaced by temporary novices, while management demands higher productivity from all employees.

Meanwhile, industry newcomers are taking market share away from traditional corporate giants.

In the steelmaking sector, for example, Indian and Chinese giants have steadily expanded, pressuring their Japanese rivals.

And the Japanese auto manufacturing behemoths have expanded overseas production, rather than exporting vehicles from Japan.

The Kobe Steel and Nissan scandals are the latest in a string of negative headlines for Japanese industry that used to be the envy of the world.

Airbag maker Takata went bankrupt this year after spending years dealing with defective products that were linked to 16 deaths and scores of injuries worldwide.

Mitsubishi Motors last year admitted that it had been falsifying mileage tests for years.

Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the powerful Keidanren business lobby, said that "global confidence and trust in Japanese manufacturing were based on unrivalled quality that overwhelmed other countries".

"These acts were so serious that it could have an impact" on trust in Japanese manufacturing.

'Spread like mould'
Corporate scandals are of course not limited to Japan. The 2015 "dieselgate" affair, where Volkswagen admitted to equipping its diesel cars with devices to evade emissions tests, caused great embarrassment for German industry, also a watchword for quality.

General Motors in 2014 also started recalling millions of vehicles over ignition defects that were linked with 124 deaths, after hiding the problem for more than a decade.

But analysts said that ironically, super-stringent quality controls in Japan could be part of the problem.

Eyebrows were raised in the Nissan scandal when it emerged that checks by more qualified officials were required for the domestic market but not for vehicles destined for exports.

Nobuo Gohara, a corporate compliance lawyer who has helped restore a number of firms after serious scandals, said many such affairs stem from excessive safety or quality standards.

Misconduct begins when employees consider that meeting these standards is a mere formality rather then a requirement and start hiding it from internal audits, he said.

Such a culture can spread like "mould" through an organisation, Gohara told AFP.

"If you leave these situations untreated, the organisation as a whole becomes numb to regulations," he said.

Younger employees in Japan tend to be more sensitive to compliance requirements, Gohara said, adding that repeated surveys of workers by outside experts can encourage whistle-blowing.

But whistle-blowing does not function properly when the misconduct is routinely and systematically conducted by many people, including potential whistle-blowers themselves, he added.

In addition, there is no formal protection for whistle-blowers in Japan and a culture of respect for hierarchy prevents many workers from speaking out, observers say.

"I suspect many small acts of misconduct happen in many places," Gohara said.

 

[Shut Up you are Not MM]

https://www.ft.com/content/235425f2-baf9-11e7-9bfb-4a9c83ffa852


Subaru drawn into Japan quality management scandal
Carmaker allowed unauthorised technicians to inspect vehicles for domestic market

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fastFT
Mitsubishi Materials subsidiary reported to falsify product quality data
Thursday, 23 November, 2017
Workers assemble an engine on a Subaru production line in Ota, Japan © Bloomberg

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Robin Harding and Peter Wells in Tokyo

October 27, 2017
Subaru said it allowed unauthorised technicians to inspect its vehicles for decades, as the carmaker became the latest Japanese company to reveal a problem with quality management.

Subaru’s admission — that it allowed trainees to conduct final inspections on vehicles destined for the domestic market — raises further questions about Japan’s corporate governance, following a similar scandal at Nissan and data falsification at Kobe Steel.

“We sincerely apologise for causing so much trouble and concern,” said Yasuyuki Yoshinaga, Subaru chief executive, on Friday.

Japan’s seventh largest automaker is preparing to recall 225,000 vehicles in Japan to reinspect them at a cost of ¥‎5bn ($44m). No safety problems have been reported in any of the cases of improper inspection.

Subaru said that a small number of trainees had improperly borrowed seals from their managers and signed off inspections as they worked, under supervision, towards the required level of experience to become inspectors themselves.

As of October 1, the company employed four such trainees compared with 245 qualified inspectors, Subaru said. The peak number of trainees was 17 and the average over time was eight, the company said.

Mr Yoshinaga said the inspection system had been in place for more than 30 years. “Perhaps our sensitivity as a company was low, but we’ve been doing this with absolutely no bad intent,” he said.

Subaru shares closed down 2.6 per cent on Friday.

The carmaker’s inspection problem came to light after the Japanese government ordered auto companies to check their systems in the wake of the Nissan scandal.

Toyota, Honda and Mazda all confirmed on Friday they had reviewed the inspection processes and reported no issues.

Officials remained open to the possibility of overhauling the regulations governing the final certification process, which is required for vehicles produced for the domestic market and does not apply to export models.

On October 26, before news of Subaru’s misconduct broke, trade and industry minister Hiroshige Seko said the scandals at Kobe Steel and Nissan were “individual companies with unique problems” and were not representative of Japanese manufacturers’ stance on corporate governance.

Nissan’s inspection data scandal, which was announced on September 29, has led to the recall of nearly 1.2m vehicles produced over the past three years.

On October 19, after discovering misconduct had continued at some of its Japanese plants even after an initial set of corrective measures were put in place, Hiroto Saikawa, Nissan’s chief executive, suspended all Nissan car production for the Japanese market until the company had upgraded its inspection lines. Nissan said its vehicles were safe.

The certification issues at Nissan and Subaru have bookended a scandal at Kobe Steel, which falsified data for some of its metal shipments. The Kobe Steel case has affected more than 500 companies but more than half have reported no immediate safety problems.

 

[chonburifc]

555 shits

 

[tanwahtiu]

False flag.

Japanese, like other nations, dont like ah nehs. Must be ah neh saboed Japan Standards.

Ah neh want something for nothing.

Stay away from ah nehs. Ah neh were the ones fight for pommies to expand British Empire. End up getting nothing and Pommies make them a poor nation.