Nissan's Japan car sales slide for second month after compliance scandal

TOKYO - 1 December 2017: Nissan Motor Co’s (7201.T) sales of domestic passenger cars fell by almost half in November - its second straight month of slides in the wake of a compliance scandal and its first since it resumed production of cars for the home market.

Revelations that Nissan failed to follow proper final inspection procedures for its domestic market cars have resulted in a recall of 1.2 million cars and a halt to production of vehicles it makes for the Japanese market over three weeks to early November.

Japan’s second-biggest automaker has previously said it would take a month or so until production returns to regular levels.

Its sales of passenger cars, excluding minivehicles, tumbled 46.8 percent in November from a year earlier to 16,888 vehicles, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said on Friday. That follows a slide of around 53 percent in October.

Nissan said in October that uncertified inspectors had for decades signed off on vehicle checks required by the transport ministry for cars sold in the country. It has blamed staffing shortages and said it would increase the number of trained staff to prevent a recurrence of the issue.

The checks are not required for exported vehicles.

The scandal at Nissan has come amidst a raft of scandals at Japanese manufacturers that have raised questions about compliance and quality control, including a data falsification scandal at Kobe Steel Ltd (5406.T).

Subaru Corp (7270.T) has also admitted it had not been following proper inspection issues going back around 30 years. Last month, sales of its passenger cars fell 13 percent from a year ago.