Yet more wrongdoing has been revealed in vehicle inspections. It is a situation in which Japanese vehicle manufacturers' reputation for quality management is subject to severe scrutiny.
Three companies -- major carmakers Suzuki Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. and major motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha Motor Co. -- used improper methods for measuring exhaust emissions and fuel efficiency in performance and safety inspections for new vehicles.
This comes after revelations that Subaru Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. also had improperly conducted inspections on finished vehicles.
This rash of scandals at major automakers could even dent confidence in all products made in Japan. The whole truth behind this wrongdoing must be uncovered and effective measures to prevent any recurrence must be quickly implemented.
The latest problematic practice occurred during random inspections conducted on about one of every 100 finished vehicles. The automakers considered inspection data valid even though it had been collected under conditions that deviated from what had been set in terms of vehicle speed and other factors.
Of 12,819 vehicles Suzuki inspected in random checks from June 2012 to July this year, inappropriate measurements were used for 6,401 units -- almost half of the total. Mazda conducted improper inspections on 72 vehicles and Yamaha did so on seven.
In 2016, Suzuki also was found to have manipulated measurements of fuel efficiency data.
Although Suzuki pledged at that time to strictly comply with laws and regulations, the latest revelations show awareness of what constitutes proper practice had not permeated to every corner of the automaker's manufacturing plants. Suzuki President Toshihiro Suzuki admitted, "Our efforts to educate employees weren't thorough enough in a wide range of areas."
It must be said that there are problems in Suzuki's governance.
Tighter regulations inevitable
If measurements are made in conditions that fall outside what is prescribed, a vehicle must be retested. In its report to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, Suzuki said, "There was an atmosphere that made our plants hesitate to conduct reinspections because they would have extended the distance traveled by vehicles the company would later sell."
It seems Suzuki's organizational climate gave priority to sales over quality.
Shortcomings in automakers' inspection systems have come to light one after another. At Suzuki, there was no management position in charge of inspections. It is said that Yamaha did not even have a manual about inspection measurements. This indicates vehicle inspections were left up to the manufacturing plants.
Quality management is an automaker's lifeline. Management should be more proactively involved in this issue.
Lowering the barriers within an organization and stepping up personnel exchanges would be a way to prevent a situation in which malfeasance can be overlooked for years and years.
That the speed indicator was difficult to read and employees could not clearly recognize that the inspection conditions were deviating from what was stipulated also apparently contributed to the wrongdoing. Vehicle inspection equipment should be improved.
The transport ministry plans to force each automaker to take steps to prevent any repeat of these scandals, such as by storing inspection data. An automaker's accurate data reports are a precondition for the reliability of finished vehicle inspections. As automakers failed to adhere to this, a certain level of tighter regulation is unavoidable.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 17, 2018)
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
