Subaru Conducts Improper Inspection of Japan Cars

Japan’s Subaru Corp. failed to follow proper inspection procedure for its vehicles that were supposed to be sent out to the domestic market, the company stated on Friday.

Subaru released a statement that said final inspections of vehicles at its main Gunma factory complex located north of Tokyo, were conducted by unverified workers.

The violation was made against requirements set by Japan’s transport ministry.

The automaker said that it will be conducting its own internal investigation and will then report details to the transport ministry by Monday.

According to Subaru CEO Yasuyuki Yoshinaga, the final inspection process is treated with the utmost care and that they know themselves the mistake they had made by not meeting the ministry’s requirements.

“We used the same process for more than 30 years without realizing that it did not meet ministry requirements.” Yoshinaga added.

The violation was found after Japan’s transport ministry told domestic automakers to conduct internal investigations following Nissan’s revelation of similar issues late last month.

Japan Inc.’s reputation for strict quality control has been continuously slipping after Kobe Steel Ltd.’s data fabrication scandal.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. both reported on Friday to the transport ministry that they found no issues with their respective inspections.

The ministry set a deadline for submission of the results by the end of October.

Subaru said that it is currently considering recalling around 255,000 vehicles produced at the Gunma factory complex.

Subaru Corp. shares closed down 2.6 percent on Friday following a decline of more than 3 percent after reports regarding improper inspections were published in the media. The broader market rose 1.2 percent.

Kobe Steel Products on Second Nuclear Company

Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) said on Friday that Kobe Steel Ltd supplied parts that were found to have false specifications for its nuclear equipment adding that the products were not used.

According to a JNFL spokesperson, the parts delivered to JNFL were meant to be used in centrifuges to enrich uranium, adding that Kobe Steel did not say whether there were any safety issues with the parts. Due to security reasons, the spokesperson declined to give any further information.

A Kobe Steel spokesperson, on the other hand, confirmed that the firm did fabricate data about specialized coatings used on the parts but had not identified any safety issues.

JNFL is the second company in the nuclear power industry to have affected components delivered to by Kobe Steel. Tokyo Electric Power Co. stated that it had taken pipe delivery from the steelmaker, which was not checked properly, this month.

Japan’s atomic regulator asked nuclear operators on Wednesday to check whether Kobe Steel products have been used at their respective nuclear plants, and then added that no reports of Kobe Steel’s data tampering scandal affecting the safety were received by them.

A spokesperson stated that there was no deadline given for nuclear operators to report back to the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

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