Nissan Motor's shares opened 5% lower on Monday morning after the company announced at the end of last week it would temporarily suspend vehicle registrations in Japan due to concerns over safety inspections.
The automaker said it was concerned safety inspections on some 60,000 vehicles produced in Japan were carried out by unqualified personnel, in contravention of government regulations.
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The problem originally came to light in early September following plant inspections carried out by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Nissan hopes to get ahead of the problem by taking immediate action but there is concern this could result in a major recall of vehicles already sold – potentially involving up to 1m vehicles.
For now, there are around 60,000 unsold vehicles stockpiled at domestic plants and dealers which cannot be sold until adequate safety inspections have been carried out and the 'all clear' given by the regulator.
Reports said 21 models built at six factories were affected including the Skyline, Note and Leaf.
The ministry also instructed other manufacturers to check their inspection procedures to prevent similar problems.
