Nissan Unfairly Reduces ¥3 Bil. in Payments to Suppliers

Jiji Press

16:18 JST, March 8, 2024

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Nissan Motor Co. has unfairly reduced a total of about ¥3,020 million in payments to 36 suppliers, the Japan Fair Trade Commission said Thursday.

The JFTC warned the automaker to take measures to prevent similar cases.

The total amount reduced in the Nissan case is the largest ever recognized in such a warning under the subcontract law. The previous largest amount was ¥2,570 million in a case involving the Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union in September 2012.

Nissan has paid the reduced amount to the suppliers, following the JFTC’s investigation.

According to the watchdog, Nissan reduced payments to tire wheel, engine parts and other suppliers between January 2021 and April 2023 by several percent from the amounts it had quoted to them when placing orders.

The suppliers are believed to have been unable to reject the reductions, due to their weak positions in their relationships with Nissan.

Such payment reductions by Nissan could date back to more than 20 years, according to informed sources. Nissan told the JFTC investigation that it was not aware that the practice violated the law.

The law only allows payment reductions for legitimate reasons, such as defective products from suppliers.

Among other major automakers, Mazda Motor Corp. received a warning under the law in March 2021 for collecting a total of about ¥51 million from suppliers in the name of fees.