Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp, Mazda Motor Corp and Yamaha Motor Corp have admitted to using false emissions data for some vehicles, the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said yesterday, in the latest product quality scandal to hit the country’s auto sector.
The companies came forward after the ministry last month ordered 23 auto and motorbike companies to conduct in-house probes after it emerged that Nissan and Subaru had cheated on fuel economy and emissions data.
All three reported “inappropriate handling” of vehicle inspections, the ministry said.
The companies admitted that incomplete emissions tests were done on some of their vehicles, but their officials certified the results as though the tests had been administered fully.
Suzuki admitted improper inspections on 6,401 vehicles, or nearly half of those subject to sample checking, between 2012 and this year.
Mazda said that 72 vehicles, or 3.8 percent of those in its sample, were affected, while Yamaha put the figure at 2.1 percent of its motorbike sample.
“This is extremely regrettable, as this may cause doubts among automobile users about vehicle performance and the quality-control structures of automakers,” Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Keiichi Ishii said in a statement.
The ministry said that it would “examine their reports and take strict measures if necessary.”
Most of the 20 other companies asked to examine their data had reported no misconduct, while several others were still investigating, the transportation ministry said.
Investors dumped shares of the three firms after the news.
Suzuki tumbled 6.04 percent to ¥6,944, Mazda sank 1.30 percent to ¥1,327 and Yamaha Motor dived 4.63 percent to ¥2,820.
The admissions are the latest in a string of scandals involving data falsification and testing standard breaches in Japan’s key automobile sector.
Last month, Nissan admitted that data on exhaust emissions and fuel economy had been “altered” for some of its vehicles, and last year the firm was forced to recall more than 1 million vehicles after admitting that staff without proper authorization had carried out some inspections.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six