After Japan’s third-largest steelmaker, Kobe Steel, revealed last fall that it falsely labeled products it had supplied to over 500 companies across the world, automakers raced to figure out whether any safety issues emerged as a result of using the affected parts. On Wednesday, Toyota said it completed an internal review and found no problems with its cars.
General Motors, Ford and Toyota were among the expansive list of multinational corporations that received products from Kobe Steel. In October, Kobe admitted that its staff falsified reports on the strength and durability of products requested by its clients to meet their specifications.
Toyota provided a partial review of Kobe materials in November, and on Wednesday the automaker said it completed the internal probe.
“We have examined the data that Kobe Steel provided (one or more years’ worth) and evaluated the potential impacts of the materials purchased from Kobe Steel, using the data that contained the largest deviations from the specifications of Toyota or its suppliers,” Toyota said in a statement.
“In these investigations, regarding all of the materials referenced in Kobe Steel’s announcements on October 8, 11, and 13, 2017 we have confirmed that our vehicles’ quality and performance satisfy our own internal standards.”
Kobe launched an internal investigation following the stark admission that it cheated tests. U.S. investigators immediately launched a probe of its own.