Subaru Vows to Overhaul Corporate Culture

Subaru Corp. vows to reform its corporate culture “from the ground up” after admitting it faked regulatory reports in Japan for at least five years.

The pledge comes in a final report about the company’s investigation of doctored data about fuel economy and emission tests. The report says results for 900 cars sold in Japan were altered by factory-floor inspectors within Subaru’s Gunma manufacturing unit.

Subaru’s rules dictate that data be averaged for groups of vehicles or over certain periods. Inspectors were told by their superiors to alter statistics from noncompliant vehicles if necessary to meet the targets, according to the report. It adds that employees also massaged figures for vehicles that met the standards to reduce variances and avoid questions from senior managers.

The analysis blames the wrongdoing on poor training, weak audits, indifference and a lack of “normative consciousness.”

Subaru pledges to become an “upright company” with employees who put doing the right thing above following protocol. The company says it aims to eliminate such “outdated” aspects of its corporate culture as bureaucracy and authoritarianism.