Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. said Tuesday that Chairman Akira Nobuki and President Takuji Yamamoto will step down to take responsibility for manipulation of performance data for the company’s earthquake-absorbing rubber products.
Nobuki, 60, will resign on July 1, and Yamamoto, 58, will step down at an extraordinary shareholders meeting to be held later this year.
The data manipulation was caused by poor internal control and oversight, Yamamoto said at a press conference.
Yamamoto said he will return 50 percent of his pay while in the position.
Toyo Tire said it will bring in an outside person to serve as chairman or special adviser in an effort to strengthen its governance.
The company also announced measures to prevent the repeat of such a scandal, including setting up a quality and compliance committee led by the president.
The improper practice came to light in March. The company’s substandard products were used for a total of 154 buildings located in 30 prefectures across Japan.
In a final report released Monday, an outside team investigating the scandal criticized the management of the company, saying that Nobuki and Yamamoto were aware of the data manipulation last summer.
The team called for drastic reform, noting the malpractice was a matter of corporate culture.
Toyo Tire had blamed the data manipulation on four people, led by a former deputy section chief in charge of development who is in his 50s, but the team said there were other people who tolerated the misconduct or urged them to pursue it.
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