TOKYO, 4 oct 2017:
Nissan plants were raided today by Japan’s transport ministry as part of a probe into unauthorised vehicle inspections, as the company recalls over a million vehicles.
As Nissan gets to grips with a major Japanese recall, Tokyo is piling on the pressure.
Transport officials raided two separate Nissan manufacturing plants, part of a probe into unauthorised vehicle inspections that’s already forced the company to call back more than a million cars.
The mass recall came about this week after Nissan discovered that final inspections were being done by unauthorised technicians at several factories.
That means reinspections are now needed at a cost of more than US$200 million – a shock that’s seen shares in Japan’s second-biggest car maker plummet to a five-month low.
Sources said the raids showed that the names of certified technicians appeared on inspection papers, even thought the checks were being done by people who weren’t officially qualified.
Nissan says its conducting an investigation with a third party into the issue, a process that will take about a month.
The recall includes all of the 386,000 passenger vehicles Nissan sold in Japan last year, roughly 10% of its global sales.
– Reuters