Toyota, Mazda confirm safety of vehicles using Kobe Steelʼs aluminum plates

October 19, 2017

TOKYO- Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. confirmed Thursday the safety of their vehicles that use falsely certified aluminum plates manufactured by Kobe Steel Ltd.

Toyota's probe has found that the aluminum plates, used for hoods and doors of some of its vehicles, satisfy related statutory standards and the automaker's internal standards for safety and durability.

The probe was based on product data for past three years saved by Kobe Steel.

Toyota said it is working to confirm the safety of its vehicles using other Kobe Steel products, such as copper and iron powder, whose quality data fabrication has also been revealed.

Mazda officials said a broad-ranging analysis of aluminum plates directly purchased from Kobe Steel has shown that the vehicles that use them are not affected in terms of safety. The automaker is currently checking the safety of Kobe Steel aluminum plates it purchased from parts suppliers, the officials said. Jiji Press