But it’s not as bad as it sounds.
Japanese carmaker Nissan has admitted, following investigations into its production processes, that there has been incidents of improprieties taking place during the final inspection phases of its Japanese-market cars. And while that certainly sounds terrible, it isn’t actually as bad as it all sounds.
The “nonconformities” that took place during the ‘kanken’ process (final inspection) centre around the “performance of exhaust emissions and fuel economy tests,” which the company says “deviated from the prescribed testing environment,” and the following reports were “based on altered measurement values.”
But before you assume your Japanese family car is warming the planet far, far more than it should, fear not: Unless you missed it, this issue pertains only to Japan-market models, and Nissan has already undergone extensive “re-verification of reliable log data” that shows all but its GT-R are within the standards set by the Japanese government, and meet publicised specifications for fuel & emissions ratings.
The discovery of discrepancies in Nissan’s kanken process in all its Japanese plants (with only Kyushu excepted) came about during a mandated review ordered by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism. That action was required after Nissan admitted back in September 2017 that the company had employed unauthorised technicians performing final inspection checks on its vehicles destined for the local market.
Announcing the data improprieties, Nissan said that they “understand and regret the concern and inconvenience caused to stakeholders as a result of kanken issues” last year, and that the company’s “proactive initiatives to prevent the recurrence of such issues led to the discovery of this misconduct.”
