Kobe Steel chief admits scandal has hit trust as car checks spread

The chief executive of Kobe Steel has said a deepening scandal over false inspections data may have spread beyond Japan, and conceded that his company now had “zero credibility”.

US carmaker General Motors is the latest manufacturer to check whether its cars contain falsely certified parts or components sourced from the the firm, Japan’s third-biggest steelmaker.

“General Motors is aware of the reports of material deviation in Kobe Steel copper and aluminium products,” the company’s spokesman Nick Richards said. “We are investigating any potential impact and do not have any additional comments at this time.”

The scandal has forced some of Japan’s best-known manufacturers to confirm the safety of products sourced from Kobe Steel.

Toyota and Nissan are among about 200 affected companies, and Hitachi said it had used Kobe Steel parts in trains built for the UK market.

“Products used met safety standards, but they did not meet the specifications that were agreed between us and Kobe Steel,” a Hitachi spokesman said.

Pressure is mounting on Kobe after it admitted last weekend that it had falsified figures about the strength and durability of its aluminium and copper products, which are used in cars, aircraft, space rockets and defence equipment.

Its chief executive, Hiroya Kawasaki, apologised on Thursday and promised that the firm would report to the trade ministry on the results of urgent safety inspections within a fortnight. He also said the cause of the falsified data would be explained within a month.

“The credibility of Kobe Steel has plunged to zero. We will make efforts to regain trust as soon as possible,” Kawasaki told reporters after meeting government officials.

The scandal is one of several to have embroiled Japanese manufacturers in recent years, and has called the country’s reputation for quality control into question.

The car parts maker Takata has paid $1bn (£756m) in penalties in connection with defective airbags that have been blamed for at least 16 deaths worldwide.

Earlier this month, Nissan recalled all 1.2m new cars it sold in Japan over the past three years after discovering that final vehicle inspections had not been performed by authorised technicians.

Nissan used Kobe Steel aluminium in the hoods and doors of some of its vehicles. “As hoods are related to pedestrian safety, we are working to quickly assess any potential impact on vehicle functionality,” it said.

Toyota also confirmed that the material has been used in hoods and rear doors of some of its vehicles.

The aircraft maker Boeing said it was inspecting Kobe Steel products, but that it had no reason to believe safety had been put at risk.

Kobe Steel also supplies materials to the carmakers Ford, Honda, Mazda and Subaru as well as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Yoshihiko Katsukawa, a managing executive officer at Kobe Steel, said the scandal could widen depending on the results of an investigation by an outside law firm into cases of data falsification stretching back a decade.

“We can’t rule out the possibility that the external investigation will find other cases,” Katsukawa said. No Kobe Steel customers had raised safety concerns or cancelled contracts with the firm, he added.

Shares in the company stabilised on Thursday after about $1.6bn was wiped off its market value in two days.

Wire agencies contributed to this report.