Nissan’s October passenger car sales in Japan dropped by half

Nissan Motor stated Japan sales of new passenger vehicles probably dropped by half in October from a year ago following the discovery of improper final evaluation procedures at its domestic plants led it to suspend some production.

The Japanese automaker discovered last month that uncertified professionals had been performing final evaluations of vehicles for years. That has prompted it to recall 1.2 million cars, including all passenger cars it produced for sale in Japan during the last 3 years.

The plants will resume production as soon as the final evaluation procedures have been brought in line with transport ministry requirements and the ministry has approved the steps, a representative for the automaker said.

Nissan has finished those measures at one of its assembly plants and anticipates to have made similar modifications at 5 other plants by the end of the week, he stated.

Tightened procedures will suggest only certified inspectors will be permitted into the last inspection area, and there will be regular checks that inspections are carried out correctly.