In a surprising turn of events a respectable Japanese Steel company, Kobe Steel Ltd has admitted to a wrong doing that has sent the car manufacturing sector of Japan shockwaves that may develop into a strong earthquake if not handle properly. Kobe Steel Ltd has admitted into fudging data with regards to the durability and strength of some of its steel products – aluminum and copper. These steel products are regularly used in cars, aircrafts, and space rockets, which highlights the potential safety risks if low grade materials were used indeed.
Who are the affected customers?
As per the writing of this article giants from the auto industry have stated that they have used some of Kobe Steel’s products as components for some of their builds. The list includes Honda Motor Co., Subaru Corp., and Toyota Motor Corp, all publicly acknowledging that they might have unknowingly used low grade components that may pose as safety threats to their customers.
One grave danger that
could come out from this whole issue would come from Subaru who has made wings for Boeing Dreamliner jet and training planes for Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.
The steel company admitted that they have shipped out potentially defective products to more than 200 customers without naming them. This magnitude could have the potential to be felt by Japan’s auto-industry at its core.
They have also expressed that they will be paying for the recall and the replacement of the tainted products they have shipped out.
What are the possible implications?
Japan has just recently suffered through a couple of scandals that have tainted the long-standing reputation that the Japanese manufacturing industry has built all through these years.
Just recently Nissan had to recall more than a million cars in Japan, Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. were probed for faking data on rubber to be used for earthquake-proofing last March, and the month before that Takata pleaded guilty for producing false facts regarding unsafe to use airbags.
This strain of failures on the part of the management on various Japanese companies may impact the high trust rating the rest of the world has when it comes to reliability of Japanese products.
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