① Toyota, Mazda, Yamaha, Honda, and Suzuki Motors were pointed out by Japan's Ministry of Transportation on Monday for violations such as data falsification, which attracted global attention; ② On Tuesday, the Toyota headquarters welcomed a door-to-door investigation by the regulatory authorities, and it was confirmed that four other companies will also be investigated one after another; ③ Analysts said that the scandal will affect plans to improve the governance of Japanese stocks and may also drag down Japan's economic growth this quarter.
AFP, June 4 (Editor: Malan) Toyota has torn apart the veil on quality issues in the Japanese automobile manufacturing industry. On Monday, Japan's Ministry of Transportation announced data violations by five car manufacturers. Subsequently, the five companies involved announced that they would stop production and sales of the vehicles in question, but the situation seems to be expanding.
On Tuesday, Japan's Ministry of Transport officials conducted an on-site investigation of Toyota Motor's headquarters in Nagoya. Officials indicated that it will also conduct on-site investigations against Mazda, Yamaha, and Suzuki Motors.
Since this week, Toyota's stock price has fallen by nearly 3%, and the stock prices of the four companies Honda, Yamaha, Mazda, and Suzuki have also fallen to varying degrees.
In addition to capital market fluctuations, the quality scandal also directly affected the internal management of the Toyota Group. Well-known agency consulting firms ISS and Glass Lewis proposed that Toyota shareholders vote against continuing to serve as chairman at the shareholders' meeting on June 18. He is the grandson of the founder of Toyota.
In addition to the company in question itself being hit, the Japanese automobile industry scandal also caused the Japanese government a headache, especially during the critical period of the Japanese government's corporate reform.
In order to raise the positive views of overseas investors on Japanese stocks, the Japanese government has recently been promoting the upgrading of the governance of listed companies, and this measure has also been praised by investors and corporate executives. And the outbreak of the scandal was certainly an explosive noise in this harmonious movement.
Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Saito Ken said at a press conference that the scandal came to light and said that the agency is investigating the impact of this incident on suppliers and will take appropriate measures.
Scandal ripples
Some analysts pointed out that Toyota will face greater pressure to strengthen governance. However, others said that since Toyota only suspended sales of three models, and many of its rivals in Japan did not meet the standards of the Ministry of Transport, the impact of this move on the company's sales may be limited.
James Hong, head of liquidity research at Macquarie Bank, believes that as far as the Japanese market is concerned, Toyota's losses will be manageable or quite small because Japanese consumers have little choice.
Hong added that Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda may face more pressure. Given that ISS and Glass Lewis are not optimistic about him, his approval rating will drop further, but it is unlikely that he will lose his position as chairman.
However, Toyota's problem is not just the Toyota family's pain. This time, it was revealed that many Japanese car companies falsified data during the vehicle certification process, seriously weakening the international market's level of trust in Japanese cars, and may disrupt the normal operation of subcontractors and small companies in Japan's huge automobile supply chain.
Toshihiro Nagahama, executive chief economist at Japan's Dai-ichi Life Economics Research Institute, further warned that the automotive industry scandal could have a ripple effect on the Japanese economy.
He analyzed that if car subcontractors experience interruptions in orders and consumers become more hesitant to buy cars, this will hurt Japan's economic growth this quarter.