Home » Business » Manufacturing
Kobe Steel admits falsified data scandal hits 500 clients
Print Edition
JAPAN’S Kobe Steel has admitted that a snowballing falsified data scandal had affected around 500 customers, more than twice as many as initially thought.
More than 30 foreign customers were affected, including Boeing, Airbus, General Motors, Tesla, German automaker Daimler and PSA of France, according to Japan’s leading Nikkei business daily.
The new estimate comes as Kobe Steel’s battered stock fell almost nine percent to finish at 805 yen (US$7.20) on Friday, down more than 40 percent since the start of the week after it admitted falsifying strength and quality data for a string of products — a practice it said may have started a decade ago.
The embarrassing scandal for a venerable firm that once employed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has already hit wide sections of Japanese industry, including Toyota, Nissan and Honda which used the materials in their vehicles.
The company had previously admitted to falsifying quality data for products sold to some 200 clients.
“Combined with previously announced clients, it will total about 500 firms,” Yoshihiko Katsukawa, a senior Kobe Steel executive, told a press conference.
“Please let us refrain from naming specific clients that have been affected. We have communicated with our customers and have discussed ways to confirm the safety” of our products, he added.
In the United States, General Motors said that it did use aluminum from Kobe Steel “in certain models and we are working with Kobe to understand the potential impact.”
The CEO of Japan’s number-three steelmaker insisted Friday that the affected products did not appear to pose a safety risk.
The company and its clients agreed on certain quality specifications, which it did not meet in many cases.
“So far, our review and investigation has shown there has not been any problem that raises concrete doubts about the safety of our products that did not meet specifications,” CEO Hiroya Kawasaki told a press briefing.
“We are resolved to take swift and appropriate actions when and if we see cases that raise safety doubts in our products.”
On Thursday, Kawasaki admitted that trust in his firm has “fallen to zero.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
