Japan’s antitrust watchdog issues warning to Toyota subsidiary

The Japanese antitrust authority plans to issue a warning to a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corp. after it was discovered that it forced subcontractors to store molds for the production of car parts at no cost, local media reported on Sunday.

Toyota Customizing & Development Co., a company that makes auto parts, ambulances and race cars, allegedly forced about 50 suppliers to withhold more than 650 molds and inspection instruments for parts used in its previous vehicles, although it had no plans to place new orders, Kyodo News reported. citing a source familiar with the matter.

The report shows that the subsidiary, in which Toyota owns 90.5% of shares, admitted violating the law regarding subcontracting contracts.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission also suspects that the Toyota group returned spare parts worth more than 50 million yen (about $310,000) to more than 60 suppliers without a valid reason, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the report, the Commission plans to warn the subsidiary to take action to prevent the problem from recurring.