TOKYO, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Japan's transport ministry on Thursday conducted inspections at two more of Nissan Motor Co.'s plants as it steps up measures to ensure the embattled automaker's practice of using uncertified staff to carry out safety checks is curbed.
Plants at Nissan's factories in Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo and Fukuoka Prefecture in southwestern Japan were inspected to prevent further violations of the government's rules on safety checks, with the inspections coming on the heels of a similar investigation at a plant a day earlier.
Nissan halted shipments and production at all six of its assembly plants here in October after it was revealed that uncertified inspections were still occurring.
The improper inspections continued even after the scandal first came to light in September.
The automaker will resume its operations if the transport ministry signs off on the firm's countermeasures.
The final inspections on vehicles by unqualified personnel at Nissan led to the automaker issuing a domestic recall of some 1.2 million cars sold in Japan over the past three years and a suspension to production of domestic automobiles.
According to an internal investigation at Nissan, it was revealed that improper final inspections on vehicles had become an inherent practice at the Yokohama-based automaker and dates back as far as 20 years.
