Factbox: Kobe Steel's data fabrication leaves "Made-in-Japan" champions scrambling

Mitsui E&S

17/10/2017 12:02

(Updates with details of more companies) 
    TOKYO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Revelations from Japan's 
third-biggest steelmaker Kobe Steel Ltd  5406.T  that it had 
fabricated data for some of its aluminium and copper and other 
products have left affected manufacturers scrambling to pin down 
the potential impact. 
    The company supplies materials and components to companies 
around the world and said its product data falsification 
affected around 500 companies, including some global household 
names. 
    No safety problems have surfaced as Kobe Steel attempts to 
confirm the extent of the data tampering. The government has 
ordered the company to address safety concerns within about two 
weeks and report on how the misconduct occurred in a month. 
    The following lists companies that have received falsely 
certified parts or are checking whether they have received them. 
    Listed also are companies included in media reports, where 
Reuters has not been able to confirm the status.   
     
    BOEING 
    Boeing Co  BA.N , the world's biggest maker of passenger 
jets, has used Kobe Steel 5406.T products that include those 
falsely certified by the Japanese company, a source with 
knowledge of the matter told Reuters.  nL4N1MN3HF   
    
    AIRBUS 
    Airbus SE  AIR.PA  does not buy products directly from 
Japan's Kobe Steel but is investigating whether any of its 
suppliers are affected by the cheating scandal, an Airbus 
spokesman said.  
    The Nikkei newspaper had reported earlier that the aircraft 
maker had received Kobe Steel products with falsified 
specifications. 
    
    FORD 
    Ford Motor Co  F.N  said its Ford Mondeo in China has an 
aluminium hood from Kobe Steel but that it had not confirmed 
whether this was an affected product.  
     
    GENERAL MOTORS  
    General Motors Co  GM.N  said it is was investigating 
whether any autos contained products sourced from Kobe Steel. 
     
    TOYOTA 
    Toyota Motor Corp  7203.T , Japan's largest automaker, said 
the compliance breach was a "grave issue", adding that Kobe 
Steel's products were used in vehicle doors and hoods.  
     
    ROLLS ROYCE  
    Rolls-Royce Holdings  RR.L  said it received affected 
products but they have not been used.  
     
    KOREAN AIR  
    Korean Air Lines Co  003490.KS  said it has supplied parts 
using Kobe Steel products to Boeing and was investigating.  
     
    HYUNDAI MOTOR 
    Hyundai Motor Co  005380.KS  and sister car maker Kia Motors 
Corp  000270.KS  said panels produced by Kobe Steel have been 
used in the IONIQ and Niro models.  
     
    NISSAN  
    Doors and hoods were affected at Nissan Motor Co  7201.T , a 
spokesman said. 
    The automaker is grappling with its own compliance failures, 
recalling all new cars sold in Japan in the last three years 
after discovering final vehicle inspections were not performed 
by authorised technicians.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1MH0TP 
     
    HONDA, SUBARU 
    Honda Motor Co  7267.T  also said doors and hoods were 
affected, while Subaru Corp  7270.T   said vehicles and aircraft 
were affected.  
    Japanese industry ministry officials said Kobe Steel 
materials were used in some defence equipment made by Subaru. 
     
    SUZUKI  
    Suzuki Motor Corp  7269.T  says affected products supplied 
by Kobe Steel were used in its motorcycles. 
     
    Other automakers affected by Kobe Steel's announcement are 
Mazda Motor Corp  7261.T  and Mitsubishi Motors Corp  7211.T , 
the companies confirmed. 
     
    MITSUBISHI HEAVY  
    Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd  7011.T  said Kobe Steel 
products were used on its Mitsubishi Regional Jet and rockets,  
including the H-2A rocket launched on Oct. 10 to put a 
navigation satellite into orbit. The rocket cleared all safety 
checks before launch, the company said. 
    Japanese industry ministry officials said Kobe Steel 
materials were used in some defence equipment made by Mitsubishi 
Heavy. 
 
    IHI  
    Heavy machinery maker IHI Corp  7013.T  said affected 
products were used in its jet engines.  
    IHI is a supplier for engines used on Boeing Co  BA.N  
aircraft and in Japan's defence and aerospace industries. The 
company did not say which engines used the affected products.  
    Japanese industry ministry officials said Kobe Steel 
materials were used in some defence equipment made by IHI. 
     
    HITACHI 
    Hitachi Ltd  6501.T  said affected aluminium products were 
used in its trains in Japan and the U.K.  
    The company said it plans to exchange parts used in the 
undercarriage of bullet trains running on JR Tokai and JR West 
lines.  
    It was not possible to switch out components used in train 
bodies, such as on JR East bullet trains and in its U.K trains, 
the company said, adding it is considering whether to seek 
compensation from the steelmaker. 
 
    JR TOKAI  
    Central Japan Railway Company Co  9022.T , which operates 
the bullet train line between Tokyo and Osaka, said affected 
products were used in train undercarriages and would be 
replaced.  
   
    JR WEST 
    West Japan Railway Co  9021.T  said affected parts were used 
and that it will seek compensation from the steelmaker. 
     
    JR EAST  
    East Japan Railway Co  9020.T  said affected parts were used 
in bullet train bodies.  
     
    KAWASAKI HEAVY 
    Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd  7012.T  said affected 
materials were used in aircraft parts and in engine components 
while it was still investigating to see if there were any other 
products including trains that used affected materials.   
    Japanese industry ministry officials said Kobe Steel 
materials were used in some defence equipment made by Kawasaki 
Heavy. 
         
    MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC 
    Mitsubishi Electric Corp  6503.T  said affected copper was 
used in air conditioners produced domestically.  
     
    TEPCO 
    Fukushima nuclear operator Tokyo Electric Power Holdings Inc 
(Tepco)  9501.T  said on Oct. 13 it had taken delivery of pipes 
from Kobe Steel that were not checked properly. The pipes were 
delivered to its Fukushima Daini station, located near the 
destroyed Fukushima Daiichi plant, but have not been used, Tepco 
said.  Tepco was checking all its facilities. 
     
    VOLKSWAGEN 
    Volkswagen AG  VOWG_p.DE  said Kobe Steel is not a direct  
supplier and that it was checking the situation with its own 
suppliers.  
     
    PANASONIC  
    Panasonic Corp  6752.T  said affected products were used in 
Blu-ray discs and had also received affected copper and copper 
alloy pipes from Kobe Steel.  
     
    DAIMLER 
    Daimler AG  DAIGn.DE  said on Oct. 13 that Kobe Steel is not 
a supplier after the Nikkei business daily reported the same day 
that it had received products from the steelmaker with falsified 
specifications. 
     
    PSA GROUP  
    PSA Group  PEUP.PA  also said on Oct. 13 that Kobe Steel is 
not a supplier after the Nikkei reported it had also received 
products from the steelmaker with falsified specifications. 
     
    The Nikkei also said the following companies have been 
supplied with Kobe Steel products with faked specifications. 
    A Kobe Steel spokesman told Reuters the companies had all 
received parts and components originating from the steelmaker 
but did not confirm whether they had been tampered with. 
    The companies are listed below by sector, separated between 
Japanese and non-Japanese companies.  
     
    Denso Corp  6902.T , Yamaha Motor  7272.T , Sumitomo Wiring 
Systems, Takata Corp, Fujitsu Ltd  6702.T , Yazaki Corp. 
  
    Tesla Inc  TSLA.O , Renault SA  RENA.PA , Daimler AG 
 DAIGn.DE , Valeo SA  VLOF.PA  and Volvo AB  VOLVb.ST . 
 
    Shimadzu Corp  7701.T , Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co 
Ltd  7003.T , NEC Corp  6701.T , Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd 
 5101.T , Komatsu Ltd  6301.T . 
     
    Tokyo Metro Co, Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc  9042.T  
     
    General Electric Co  GE.N   
     
    Daikin Industries Ltd  6367.T , Toshiba Corp  6502.T , 
Horiba Ltd  6856.T , Nidec Corp  6594.T . 
     
    Intel Corp  INTC.O  
     
($1 = 111.8900 yen) 
 
 (Reporting by Sam Nussey, Yuka Obayashi, Osamu Tsukimori, Joe 
White, Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Aaron Sheldrick and Shri 
Navaratnam) 
 ((sam.nussey@thomsonreuters.com; +81364411596; Reuters 
Messaging: sam.nussey.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: KOBE STEEL SCANDAL/