Nissan Motor resumed production today (7 November) at most of its plants in Japan after suspending operations last month due to irregularities in its new car inspection procedures.
Following visits by government officials to its assembly plants in September, Nissan admitted at the beginning of October that vehicle safety inspections had been carried out by unqualified personnel at its domestic plants for a number of years.
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The automaker was forced to suspend sales and production in Japan last month and recall around 1.2m vehicles sold in the country since 2014. The recall affects only vehicles sold in its home market.
As of Tuesday, only the Kyoto plant remained closed as procedures continued to be reviewed. The company’s sales in Japan are understood to have plunged by around 50% last month as a result of the suspension.
Japanese industry has been hit by a series of quality inspection scandals in the last two months, including Kobe Steel which was found to have falsified quality certifications on its copper and aluminium products – affecting a large number of industries including major automakers at home and abroad.
Last month, Subaru also admitted to flawed safety inspections at its plants in Japan and was forced to recall 255,000 cars in the country.
