Suzuki HQ raided over fuel-testing scandal

I'm getting really tired of these Japanese companies claiming ignorance when in reality if you had ANY checks in place, these discrepancies would be caught immediately.

The Japanese are slowly becoming the backwards and lying standard for the world. They continually think that bowing and apologizing will save their company, when in reality the international community would rather see their company go bankrupt than go through another "sincere" apology. What a load of junk.

It just begs the question - how far does this systemic corruption spread?

It just begs the question - how far does this systemic corruption spread?

from Naha to Nagoya and Sapporo to Tokyo...We are aware of T series scandals Toshiba, Toyo Tire, Takata...now it is S series Sharp, Suzuki...it is wide spread in every business sector.

Osamu Suzuki—a direct descendant of the company’s founding family

Actually, he's not. He married into the family.

Often I think it starts as "its just a little deviation, don't worry about it" then it just grows like fungus and then it ends up a huge scandal because they never niped it in the bud but the CEOs who should step in to correct their errors don't for dollars reasons and then think they can just apologize and all is well again to continue what they were doing wrong in the first place. The truth is that they all just think rules and laws and contracts are more of a guideline than the law, like in pirates of the Carribean. Where I work they think I'm odd because I keep saying "You have to do it by the book, your sorrys don't work in the rest of the world"

I will not be surprised if this spreads to every car manufacturing company in Japan. If there are a couple involved in it, you can bet they are all involved in it.

When I lived in Japan I was always amazed by the integrity of the average person I dealt with, became friends with. All the corruption, lying and cheating at the top is a bit baffling.

This story is like old cake that people are getting tired of. Japan needs a national fuel economy efficiency testing center that will do these tests.

An even worse story: Takata airbags without the desiccant are still being put in new cars (even 2017s). These new cars will need to be recalled.

How did we ever survive before government bureaucrats decided there shoudl be testing?

Fudging the numbers seems to be widespread in the automobile industry these days. I wonder if they were cooking their books as well. Should investigate that while they are visiting - Oh, I mean raiding. Get ready for another round of Oyaji-on-tv-bowing-deeply and telling us how regrettable it all is, followed up by a severe telling off and a generous early retirement package from the company. I just can't imagine any of them will ever do any real time. Not here in this lifetime.

Oh well he too will say he can't remember too much drinking I was drunk at board dinner meetings

@ryuusei

"how far does this systemic corruption spread?"

Answer on a post card sent to the head of the LDP please.

We've all mentioned this before.... where are the really ticked off Japanese protests.... or at least some scathing articles from the Press. What I'm talking about is how they do this totally backwards allowing for all companies to burn or shred any possible evidence. They announce an investigation.... and then weeks later they raid the place for evidence of wrongdoing. Its like the Japanese know this stuff goes on but accept it for the good of jobs and the continuance of big business. They're OK with it. Its part of the Culture. They'll get heavily fined in Europe and the USA.... but at home, no big deal, these are normal business practices. Sure its naive to think this stuff does not happen.... but to expect it and then when it happens do almost nothing.... that is reckless.

Let's get ahead of this with a bowing pool! How many for the cameras? 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5?

The Japanese corporate version of "I was drunk and I cannot remember" => "Lehman shock"

but declined to speculate on what sort of financial penalties it could face. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” a company spokesman told AFP.

This is probably because there are no particular penalties. I bet that no law has even been broken. After any deception "scandal" the media should always react with two questions: What law was broken? What is the penalty? Then they will be able to show that the companies have in fact just flouted the administrative guidance which ministries have agreed with companies beforehand. In effect they will then go through a carefully prepared performance - including being raided several weeks after the event and then some bowing and handing over papers in front of the cameras - but at the end of the day, although it appears they have been punished, they have broken no law and really suffered no, or minimal, penalty. Meanwhile the ministries manage to continue running a country not based on the rule of law.

Yeah... and did they call a week in advance to make a reservation, as per the norm?