Japanese car collective scandal in the Chinese market share does not fall but rose?

In Japan, fuel efficiency data are related to whether or not vehicles can enjoy environmental tax cuts and are also an important indicator for consumers to choose a car. In tampering with fuel efficiency data, Subaru is not the first “perpetrator” among Japanese car companies.

On May 16, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism raided its headquarters due to violations of fuel efficiency and tail gas data in the new vehicle of Japan’s automaker Subaru. The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport searched its headquarters and in conjunction with other related departments, inquired about senior management of the company to decide Possible measures to take down.

Subaru "Modified Data Doors"

At the end of April this year, Subaru submitted a report to the government saying that its factory in Gunma County systematically tampered with data under the guidance of the head of the vehicle inspection department. The staff involved revealed that the history of Subaru's data forgery can be traced back to 2002 and its duration has exceeded 15 years.

Although Subaru said that the value before the tampering was within the standard value range, it had no impact on the quality of the vehicle, and stated that it would "start from scratch" and reform the corporate culture and become a truly "honest company". However, this did not get public understanding. Coupled with last year's exposure to "unqualified" personnel involved in the seized vehicle incident, Subaru's credibility plummeted.

According to public figures, Subaru's sales in Japan fell by 9.2% in March and has fallen for five consecutive months. In the first three months of this year, Subaru's sales in the Japanese market were 47,000, a year-on-year drop of 15%.

After the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport verifies the extent of false reporting, Subaru may face greater penalties than the previous two years.

In 2016, after Japan's Mitsubishi Motors and Suzuki Motors falsified fuel consumption data, the Japanese government revised the "Road Transport Vehicles Act" to increase the penalties imposed on automakers' false reporting of fuel consumption data: fines from "300,000 yen or less. "Upgraded to "200 million yen or less"; to the individual who constitutes cheating, the individual punishment was increased from "a fine of 300,000 yen or less" to "a prison term of less than one year and a fine of not more than 3 million yen."

Subaru's tampering with the data may face a Japanese government fine of less than 200 million yen. The individual who constitutes cheating may face a penalty of up to one year in prison and a fine of up to 3 million yen.

Behind the scandal

In Japan, fuel efficiency data are related to whether or not vehicles can enjoy environmental tax cuts and are also an important indicator for consumers to choose a car. In tampering with fuel efficiency data, Subaru is not the first “perpetrator” among Japanese car companies.

As early as 2016, Mitsubishi Motors Japan and Suzuki Motors successively disclosed fuel efficiency data cheating, resulting in the resignation of Mitsubishi Motors President Aikawa Teijiro, the company’s profits plummeted, Nissan’s company stepped in and acquired the automaker, and Suzuki Motors’ president. CEO Suzuki's rhetoric went to his post and Hirata, the vice president of general management technology, left office.

In addition, the Japanese car also revealed the following negative events in 2017: Nissan Automobile's quality inspection violations, Toyota crash test fraud, Honda engine "accelerator" incident, Honda emissions falsified, Takada airbag tamper test data up to 15 years, etc. . The industry believes that Japanese cars have always been regarded as excellent students in the global automotive industry. Japanese car companies are also known for their quality and integrity. They did not expect that top students would cheat. This is shocking and disappointing.

However, from the data, the negative news of Japanese cars did not affect their sales. According to data from the China Automobile Association, the market share of Japanese cars in China at the end of 2016 was 15.6%. At the end of 2017, the figure rose to 17%, and from January to April in 2018, it was 16.9%. Despite the scandals involving Japanese cars in the past two years, the market share in the Chinese market has increased rather than decreased.

In response to this anomaly, veterans of the automotive media told the International Finance News reporter: “The main reason is that the false data scandal does not directly affect the quality and use of vehicles for vehicle owners and consumers at the consumer level. The negative impact is not that great."

On the other hand, Zhong Shi, a well-known car commentator, told the “International Financial News” reporter: “This may be the reason why China’s quality inspection system is still not mature enough.” Zhong thinks that China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine may not understand certain foreign models. The general recall is to follow up on the Japanese and U.S. government's handling of enterprises, and there is no independent mature system for the quality inspection of imported vehicles.