Toyota, other Japanese carmakers say hoods containing Kobe Steel aluminium are safe

Three Japanese automakers on Thursday confirmed the safety of aluminium components made by Kobe Steel Ltd, allaying some concerns that Kobe`s falsified quality data had compromised the safety of the products.

Kobe Steel, Japan`s No. 3 steelmaker, admitted earlier this month to falsifying the quality data for aluminium and copper products and even optical disks. The falsifications may stretch back for 10 years. Since then, global automakers, aircraft companies and other manufacturers have scrambled to identify potential hazards in their products.

Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co and Mazda Motor Co said that hoods and other exterior parts used in their cars which were made from aluminium directly supplied by Kobe Steel were safe, prompting a 5 percent jump in Kobe Steel shares.

"We confirmed that the materials satisfy applicable statutory standards, and our own internal standard, for key safety and durability requirements for vehicles," Toyota said in a statement.

Toyota, one of the world`s largest automakers, identified aluminium plates supplied by Kobe Steel for the hoods and rear hatches of Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles. While outside the automaker`s specifications, they were still safe to use.

The aluminium is supplied in sheets, and used by automakers to press into exterior parts. Aluminium has become an increasingly popular material for automakers to use in body parts as the material is lighter than steel, which can improve fuel efficiency.

The automakers said that they were checking to see how the safety and durability of other components sourced from suppliers which use Kobe Steel products would be affected by the falsifications.

While other firms including Nissan Motor Co said their were still investigating the effect on their vehicles, the announcements by Toyota, Honda and Mazda suggest that Kobe Steel`s cheating scandal may have a limited impact on product safety.

European regulators earlier this week advised aircraft manufacturers to stop using parts supplied by the company until their safety can be verified.

Japan`s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is planning to probe the safety of automobiles, trains and planes using Kobe Steel products, a ministry spokesman said. The meeting will share information but its final scope and start date have not been finalised.

Toyota sources aluminium plates, copper tubes, steel wires and other products directly from Kobe Steel. The company also sources products from its suppliers which contain steel powder, copper tubes and other materials made by Kobe.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)