Twenty-six months after a fatal accident caused by a Mitsubishi Fuso truck in Yokohama, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corporation at last admitted that there had been defects in the design of parts.
On March 24, MFTBC President Wilfried Porth called a news conference and apologized to the family of the victims of an accident in Yokohama City in January 2002.
Earlier in the day, Porth submitted to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry a plan to recall 112,000 large vehicles due to defective wheel hubs connecting the wheels and the axle.
Although 17 broken hubs had been reported even after the 2002 fatal accident, MFTBC consistently blamed users' poor maintenance for those accidents. The transport ministry accepted the explanation and failed to conduct on-site inspections.
Soon after the 2002 accident, Akahata reported that dozens of tire-dropout accidents happened on Mitsubishi trailer trucks manufactured during a certain period of time.
The Japanese Communist Party in both the Upper and Lower Houses demanded that the transport ministry carry out plant inspections and criticized the ministry for failing to order a recall and conduct the inspections.
MFTBC should be held criminally responsible. In addition, it is necessary to establish a body independent of government ministries and automakers to objectively investigate into the cause, said Akahata. (end)
