Kobe Steel’s aluminium do not breach safety standards, say 4 Japanese carmakers

Shortly after the submission by Kobe Steel that it had falsified data regarding aluminium and copper products, four Japanese automakers said Thursday that they found no safety issues with the aluminium parts supplied to them. This put at rest some concerns that the data falsification by the Japanese steelmaker might have compromised quality of their vehicles.

However, Kobe Steel still has to defend themselves at the U.S. Justice Department, while further checks continue at other companies involved in the supply chains spanning across the globe.

Ever since Japan's third-biggest steelmaker admitted earlier this month regarding data falsification, global automakers, OEMs, and aircraft companies have been testing frantically to identify potential hazards Kobe Steel-supplied aluminium and copper parts could cause in their products.

Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co, Nissan Motor Co and Mazda Motor Co said that the exterior parts in their cars which used aluminium supplied by Kobe Steel were safe.

Kobe Steel shares ended the day nearly 7 percent higher but are still down by more than a third since it announced the data falsification. Automakers are still making checks on other parts, including those that they received through their parts suppliers.

"We confirmed that the materials satisfy applicable statutory standards, and our own internal standard, for key safety and durability requirements for vehicles," Toyota said in a statement.

Subaru and other Japanese carmakers said they were still investigating the issue. Nevertheless, the safety defence put up by Toyota et al helped boost Kobe Steel shares high on Thursday, reports stated.