Honda made an official announcement that it failed to report more than 1 700 claims of injury or death cases related to its cars to U.S. regulatory authorities. This is considered one of the largest violations in the history, which could result in a fine estimated to $35 million.
The Executive Vice President of Honda North America, Rick Schostek, said on a conference call with reporters, cited by Bloomberg: “The audit identifies difficult facts where we did not meet our obligations.”
The Chief Executive Officer of the Japan-based company, Takanobu Ito, apologised for the companys failure to report the incidents, which involve both death or injury cases over the last ten years. The announcement comes at a time when Honda, which has been carrying out one of the largest recalls ever, is going through a difficult period, facing a lot of criticism because of its safety record. The company withdrew about 9.7 million vehicles over the past six years due to defective air bags manufactured by Takata Corp.
Chief Executive Officer Ito said in a statement, cited by the Wall Street Journal: “From what I hear, the origin of this goes back to differences in what we thought and what the regulators were seeking. But on top of that there appears to have been multiple mishandlings and I am very sorry about that.”
Honda explained that the failure to report the cases emphasizes on a great lapse in its reporting system for potential safety defects. Currently, the Japanese auto manufacturer is facing serious attacks for its latest recalls. The company has presented its findings to the NHTSA, which on November 3rd rushed Honda to explain some underreporting.
Honda Motor Co. Ltd was up 1.40% to close at ¥3 741.5 per share today in Tokyo, marking a one-year decrease of 14.28%. The company is valued at ¥6.68 trillion. According to the Financial Times, the 22 analysts offering 12 month price targets for Honda Motor co. Ltd have a median target of ¥4 090, with a high estimate of ¥4 700 and a low estimate of ¥3 100. The median estimate represents a 9.31% increase from the last price of ¥3 741.5.
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