The head of scandal-hit Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel announced his resignation on Tuesday after the firm submitted false strength and quality data for products shipped to hundreds of clients worldwide.
Hiroya Kawasaki’s resignation was a new blow to Japan’s reputation after similar quality-control scandals hit industrial titans ranging from carmaker Nissan to Mitsubishi Materials.
Following a deep and prolonged bow in apology, Kawasaki told reporters: “As I think it’s best to go ahead quickly with reforms under new members, I … will step down from president on April 1 this year. We have caused trouble to many people. As soon as we can, we would like as many people as possible to think that Kobe Steel has changed ... I’m really sorry.”
The firm has not named a successor but pledged to hold a board meeting “in the near future” to select someone to turn the ship around.
A long-awaited report revealed that the scandal was more widespread that first thought, with 163 more clients affected than initially identified.