Japan's Nissan Motor Co. has lost its ISO 9001 certificates on quality management for its domestic production following the recent scandal, local media reported on Wednesday.
Japan Gas Appliances Inspection Association, an ISO certification agency in Japan, revoked the ISO 9001 certificates for Nissan's six domestic plants on Oct. 31 following on-site inspections after the automaker's misconduct was revealed, said local reports.
The factories, however, maintained their ISO certificates for production for overseas market.
The ISO certificates, issued by independent agencies, according to the rules made by Switzerland-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO), are generally considered as an assurance of quality control.
Nissan's misconduct was first brought into light following an on-site inspection by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on Sept. 18.
It was found that Nissan had "assistant inspectors" instead of certified inspectors do the safety check before the cars leave the factories.
Nissan suspended on Oct. 19 shipment and the production of new cars from all of its domestic plants after it found out that flawed inspection still carried on after it apologized for the malpractice.
The automaker resumed the shipment and production of cars at its plants on Nov. 8.
As a result of the malpractice, the company has announced the recall of over 1.2 million vehicles which were produced between October 2014 and September 2017 and underwent flawed safety inspections, which was expected to cost the company some 25 billion yen (220 million U.S. dollars).
The scandal has also cast doubts over corporate governance in the manufacturing industry and beyond in Japan, raising concerns over the quality of the "Made in Japan" brand.
