Nissan to recall 150,000 cars due to improper tests on new units

Nissan Friday announced plans to recall approximately 150,000 vehicles owing to improper tests on new units, dealing a fresh blow to the Japanese car giant following the shock arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.

"Nissan has recently found several non-conformities that may have caused inaccurate pass/fail judgements during the inspection process," the company said in a statement, adding it would "promptly" recall as many as 150,000 units in Japan.

It confirmed that improper tests were carried out on brakes, speedometers and other systems before shipment at its domestic assembly plant. Nissan plans to notify authorities of the recall on Thursday, it added.

The manufacturer was forced to recall more than one million vehicles last year after admitting staff without proper authorisation had conducted final inspections on some units intended for the domestic market before they were shipped to dealers.

In a separate case that erupted in July, Nissan admitted data on exhaust emissions and fuel economy had been deliberately "altered", hampering its efforts to recover trust after the inspection scandal.

The latest recall represents another blow to the company, which has been rocked since Ghosn was arrested on November 19 on allegations he under-reported his salary by millions of dollars over five years.

Ghosn denies any wrongdoing. The ousted chairman is expected next week to face a further accusation of under-reporting his salary by about four billion yen (USD 35.5 million) over the past three years, Japanese media reported.