Toyota, Honda and others confirm the safety of Kobe Steel aluminum products

According to foreign media reports, three Japanese automakers confirmed the safety of aluminum parts produced by Kobe Steel. This move alleviated concerns raised by the public about the safety of using its products caused by the Kobe steel fraud scandal.

Kobe Steel earlier this month admitted falsifying quality data for aluminum and copper products. Moreover, its data fraud can be traced back to 10 years ago. After the fraud scandal erupted, global automakers, aircraft manufacturers and other manufacturers urgently checked for the use of Kobe Steel products and whether they were potentially harmful.

Toyota purchased aluminum plates, copper pipes, wire, and other products directly from Kobe Steel. In addition, Toyota also purchased steel powder, copper pipes, and some other materials produced by Kobe Steel from its suppliers.

On Thursday (2017.10.19), Toyota, Honda and Mazda stated that their hoods and other external components made of aluminum supplied by Kobe Steel are safe. Toyota said Toyota and Lexus used the aluminum plate provided by Kobe Steel in the hood and rear compartment. Although these materials are not the same as those used by Toyota and Lexus, it is safe to use them. Kobe Steel's aluminum sheet is used by automakers to compress the body of the car. Since aluminum products are lighter than iron products, the former are often used by automobile manufacturers to make bodywork, and they can also improve the fuel economy of automobiles.

This declaration caused Kobe Steel's share price to rise 5%. The three car companies stated that they are inspecting the safety and durability of other products that use Kobe Steel materials. Toyota stated in a statement: “We confirm that the safety and durability of these materials provided by Kobe Steel meet the applicable statutory standards and our company's internal standards.”

Although Toyota, Honda, and Mazda have demonstrated that Kobe Steel's aluminum materials have little effect on their vehicle safety. However, Nissan and other auto companies stated that they are still investigating their safety. European regulators advised aircraft manufacturers to stop using parts supplied by Kobe Steel until the safety of the products provided by the latter was confirmed.

According to a Japanese government spokesman, Japan's Ministry of Land and Resources, Ministry of Infrastructure Construction, and Ministry of Transport and Tourism are planning to investigate the safety of cars, trains, and airplanes that use Kobe Steel products. There will be a meeting on this investigation, and the content of the meeting will be open. However, the final topic of the meeting and the date of the meeting have not yet been determined.