On the basis of the nonconformities discovered in the final vehicle inspection process at plants in Japan, Nissan had submitted recall notifications to the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation (MLIT) in 2017. Today they have announced their new findings that may have caused inaccurate pass/fail judgements during the inspection process.
The vehicles to be recalled belong to the production period of November 7, 2017 to October 25, 2018. The vehicles were manufactured at the Oppama and the Auto Works Kyoto plants in Japan and amounts to around 150,000.
The new findings include
- Use of the parking brake lever when testing the rear wheel braking force.
-Use of the brake pedal when testing the parking braking force.
-Turning back the steering wheel when testing the steering angle
-Turning the steering wheel to the right or left when starting testing the steering angle
-Taking measurements as soon as vehicle speed reaches 40 km/h, instead of maintaining vehicle speed at 40 km/h
-Carrying out the sideslip test at a speed of approximately 6-8 km/h, instead of the company standard of 5 km/h
The newly found instances are viewed as having resulted from ambiguity regarding final vehicle inspection procedures and a lack of understanding of noncompliant practices. Therefore, Nissan intends to additionally take the following measures and enhance its ongoing initiatives. Nissan is going to implement the 77 countermeasures outlined in its September 26, 2018. It is going to issue a notification regarding the recall of additional vehicles on December 13.
In November 2017, Nissan announced the results of its investigation into nonconformities in the vehicle inspection process and the countermeasures the company was implementing. The company also started companywide compliance enhancement activities. In April 2018, Nissan had established the Japan Manufacturing & SCM Operation Division, which includes teams dedicated to regulations and legal affairs. Nissan discovered additional instances of misconduct related to exhaust emissions and fuel economy tests in July 2018 and precision testing in September 2018.
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