Japanese brake maker supplying Toyota to’bock inspection’ for over 20 years

Input 2021.02.17 14:20 | Revision 2021.02.17 14:23

Nikkei Asia reported on the 16th that Japanese brake parts giant Akebono, which supplies Toyota and Nissan, has committed inspection irregularities such as manipulating data for over 20 years.

According to Nikkei Asia, Akebono announced at a press conference presided over by President Yasuhiro Miyaji that there were about 11,4271 cases of misconduct, including manipulation of data related to inspection of brake parts produced at Japanese factories.

It is reported that Akebono has launched a special investigation committee based on the company report in November 2019 and conducted a thorough investigation to confirm widespread irregularities. It is explained that the documents were forged as if the data were manipulated or not inspected during the regular inspection, which examines the durability of four types of parts, such as disc brakes that prevent wheel rotation.

The cheating was found to have occurred between January 2001 and May 2020 at four of Akebono’s six Japanese factories. Of the approximately 190,000 inspection data during this period, 60% were confirmed to be illegal.

It is possible that the denial could have occurred before 2001, but it was not confirmed because there were no related data left, Akebono added.

Regarding the delay in the announcement of the results of the investigation, Miyaji said, “I did not see it as urgent because there was no safety problem.” He predicted that the recall of automakers would not be carried out, saying, “It has been confirmed that there is no safety problem even at the supplier.”

Akebono’s side decided to cut the monthly remuneration of all executives, including the president, by 10% for three months, taking responsibility for the incident.

Founded in 1929, Akebono Brake Industry is a listed company on the 1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and supplies brake parts to foreign companies such as GM as well as 10 Japanese automakers such as Toyota. Last year’s sales amounted to 199.3 billion yen (about 2 trillion won, based on consolidated settlement in March last year).