Nissan Has Recalled More Than 1.2 Million Cars In Japan

Surely it’s not another Japanese not-doing-things-properly scandal? Actually, yes. Yes it is. After the Kobe Steel debacle we brought to you just days ago, Nissan, whose cars might already be affected by that, has recalled every single car it sold in Japan over the last three years and suspended production at six domestic factories.

Stop to consider the scale of that and you might go slightly giddy. The original recall was announced at the start of this month, but we missed it. It was triggered when the company found out that cars were somehow being signed off by unqualified factory staff.

Now, two weeks later, Nissan has discovered that the tea lady and work experience lad were still making final vehicle checks. We joke, but it’s a serious issue and has added around 34,000 cars to the incredible 1.2 million already recalled.

In all likelihood there’ll be nothing wrong with them, but every car will undergo re-inspections to establish proper function of the steering, acceleration and braking. You can’t fault them for doing everything they can, though, and we at least applaud them for that.

It’s said to be an operation that will cost Nissan $222 million, not to mention financial losses associated with halting production for at least two weeks at its six plants that serve the Japanese market.

This is yet another blow for the Japanese automotive industry, which has lately been going through some pretty tough times of its own making. Mitsubishi owned up to falsifying emissions test results, and Kobe Steel’s deliberate mislabelling of metals could impact millions of cars globally. It’s stare at your shoes and look sorry time, guys.

Source: Reuters/Fortune