A controversy that has rocked the Japanese tire industry may soon claim two top executives at Toyo Tire & Rubber Co.
The Japan Times reported today that Toyo chairman Akira Nobuki and president Takuji Yamamoto are considering resigning in the aftermath of a scandal in which the company admitted installing “substandard earthquake shock absorption devices” in some buildings in the country.
Sources told the Japan Times that, “Nobuki, 60, is likely to step down soon, while Yamamoto, 58, will depart in the fall at the earliest.”
“Toyo needs to revamp management to restore public confidence hurt by a spate of recent revelations that it had falsified data on its devices,” the newspaper stated. “It is expected to announce preventive measures by the end of this month.”
The newspaper reported that Toyo confirmed that 145 buildings, “including public facilities such as schools and hospitals,” were constructed using substandard seismic isolation devices produced by the company. The state of such devices in nine other buildings has not been verified, the Times wrote.
The scandal came to light this past March after the Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport pulled its certification of Toyo’s rubber-laminated isolation devices after testing showed they failed to meet regulatory standards. At that time Toyo said the devices were delivered from July 2004 through February 2015.
Toyo has issued no statements regarding the future of its management team.
