Japan’s Hitachi Astemo flag lapsed in quality tests for decades

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TOKYO — Japanese auto supplier Hitachi Astemo said on Friday it had discovered misconduct during testing and other procedures on parts that spanned up to four decades, affecting up to four decades. much more factories and customers than previously revealed.

The comments come after it was reported last month that Daihatsu, a subsidiary of Toyota, had cheated on safety tests for 88,000 small cars.

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Hitachi Astemo, which makes car and rail parts, from brakes and shock absorbers to powertrains, worked with customers to rerun tests on nearly 24 affected products. influence following an investigation, CEO Brice Koch told reporters.

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“We have now taken all relevant measures to improve and strengthen the robustness of our system and our company,” Koch said, adding that he does not expect any any impact on growth or costs.

None of the customers involved were compensated and all costs associated with the new trial were booked in the previous fiscal year.

The company, a joint venture between Hitachi Ltd, Honda Motor Co Ltd and JIC Capital Ltd, found that employees mishandled inspection and other procedures at 11 domestic plants and four factories. abroad, in China, Mexico, Thailand and the United States.

The company said the misconduct affected 22 products for 69 customers, including automotive rear shock absorbers and brake systems, automotive shock absorbers and connecting rods, as well as parts. other.

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Koch said about three-quarters of the customers are Japanese and the rest are foreigners.

“The main root cause of misconduct is essentially a lack of understanding (and) resources about compliance,” says Koch, adding that in some cases, employees have prioritized costs. and delivery time than quality and compliance.

Issues include reporting periodic test results to customers without running actual tests on some products. A spokesman said employees also ran suspension tests at incorrect temperatures.

In the longest such incident, which spanned about 40 years from January 1983, workers placed an incorrect amount of shielding paint on the suspension at a factory in Fukushima prefecture, the spokesman said. Japan.

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Hitachi Astemo, which has a global network of manufacturing, sales and research facilities across four continents, was established in January 2021, following the merger of Hitachi Automotive Systems, Keihin Corp, Showa Corp and Nissin Kogyo Co Ltd.

The company initially announced several mishandled testing procedures in December 2021, saying it had discovered misconduct at the Fukushima plant and a plant in Yamanashi Prefecture, related to 9 products and 15 customers.

It then had a panel of three attorneys investigate from December 2021 to June 2022, followed by another investigation by the quality control department from July to September last year. (Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)