Nissan resumes production at Japanese plants following irregularities

Automobile giant Nissan on Tuesday resumed the production and shipment of vehicles in five of its six plants in Japan after authorities approved the measures taken to put an end to inspection irregularities.

The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism inspected the Nissan factories between November 1 and 5, with the exception of the plant in Kyoto of its subsidiary Nissan Shatai, and approved the corrections and preventive measures adopted.

A spokesperson for Nissan told Efe news that the inspection of the Kyoto plant was carried out independently of the others, and thus the approval of the Ministry could take some time to obtain.

The company made the decision to halt the marketing and production in Japan after verifying that the irregularities persisted in some of its factories, even after the problem came to light on September 29.

The Japanese regulations stipulate that only inspectors who are certified and previously registered in the system approved by the MLIT can grant the approval to the vehicles that are going to be sold in the Japanese market.

However, some of the reviews on Nissan's vehicles were conducted by non-accredited personnel, although the reports were signed by certified workers, which is an irregular practice in the Asian country.

The company has taken measures to "ensure final vehicle inspection conforms with Japanese regulations", and after discovering "flaws" in the plants' internal registration process and education programmes for final vehicle inspectors, it will "take additional corrective measures, including re-education and re-examination".

The irregularities forced the company to review more than one million vehicles and impacted its sales in Japan in October, which could drop by around 50 per cent, according to Nissan's estimates.

The company will publish the final sales data corresponding to October at the end of November.