Chapter 1233 Murderer

In half a month, the fourth Japanese company suspected of fraud was revealed.

It did not disappoint, and the Fortune 500 deserves expectations.

However, Kobe Steel, which was named by Wikipedia, did not respond immediately. It first responded to questions from customers around the world.

The media and the public can have fun, but brands that use Kobe Steel as a supplier really can't have such a mentality when things affect themselves.

In other words, after Japanese companies were exposed one after another, many brands that use Japanese suppliers will inevitably mutter in their hearts, won't their own products also have fakes?

Therefore, Kobe Steel's customers almost immediately asked in various ways after learning the news, and the company's phone calls came one after another.

Such a hidden doubt about Japanese companies is also a concern of the Japanese media recently.

Sony is the most famous Japanese brand in the world. Now it is suffering huge losses, the CEO resigned, and it is a mess. The product areas of Takata and Kobe Steel are relatively sensitive, and people cannot help but pay attention to killing airbags and fake steel.

There is also Olympus. Such a giant in the industry has been cheating for such a long time. It is rare in the world...

Just after Kobe Steel was exposed, some Japanese media made an appeal.

"The fraud that has appeared now is only from individual companies. Please do not have a wrong understanding of Japanese companies as a whole."

"The source of the news on the WikiLeaks website is not authoritative. Please do not expand the scope of the market attack."

"Japanese companies have excellent financial systems and corporate governance mechanisms. This cannot be questioned because of the situation of a few companies."

"We have reason to believe that this is an organized and premeditated smear campaign against Japanese companies."

Famous Japanese media such as Asahi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun responded quickly and gave similar attitudes.

However, what makes them feel quite tricky is that it is not easy to find a counterattack target this time. The source of WikiLeaks's revelations is claimed to be from Fobole and SEC. Although sources close to the two departments have denied this situation, it is hard to say who is more trustworthy between them and WikiLeaks.

Assuming that it is indeed not from the two departments of the United States, who else could it be?

The scope is too large, and it is difficult to even imagine a counterattack target.

Influential Japanese media have joined forces to try to cool down the recent Japanese corporate turmoil, but they can still play a role in Japan, and larger public opinion forums cannot reverse the hot wind.

The New York Times, as a media that witnessed Olympus and Sony up close, asked a question in its report: "If even industry giants like Sony and Olympus are fraudulent, if Takata and Kobe Steel are even fraudulent on products that are related to life safety, how can we trust Japanese brands?"

The official report spread too slowly, and the Japanese media responded on Twitter and Facebook.

"Media reports should be objective. Sony did not commit fraud. It just suffered losses due to various factors. Takata is also under investigation. The situation of Kobe Steel is also not clear enough. The current reports and carnivals are all derived from WikiLeaks' information that cannot be guaranteed to be true."

"As for Olympus, the prosecutors, police and exchanges have all officially investigated, but doesn't this take time?"

"Even if Takata and Kobe Steel are really confirmed to have problems, how can they represent the operations of other Japanese brands? Without Sony, there is Toshiba. Without Kobe Steel, there is Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The efforts and operations of more companies should not be wiped out because of the problems of individual companies."

These words from the Japanese media do make sense. They want to cut off the companies with problems so as not to affect the overall image.

However, in the evening, there was more progress on the situation of Takata.

Toyota and Nissan, also famous Japanese brands, announced the recall of 3 million cars equipped with hidden airbags and will further evaluate the relevant situation.

The problem of Takata airbags has begun to spread to the industrial chain.

As the world's second largest manufacturer of automotive safety components, the sales volume of its customers' automotive products is not in the millions, but in the billions.

Toyota and Nissan obviously do not want the use and image of their own products to be affected by the product problems of a supplier. Regardless of whether they are both Japanese companies, they have already made substantial cuts.

But this is undoubtedly the first step to confirm that there is indeed a problem with Takata airbags before the internal investigation of Takata is released.

Just a few hours after Toyota and Nissan announced the recall, Takata held a press conference, and President Shigehisa Takata bowed to the public to apologize.

"I apologize for not being able to communicate with the victims in time, and I apologize for the dead and injured. It is very regrettable that as a safety equipment supplier, our products have caused harm to users."

"The company is currently discussing how to help the victims and their families, including setting up a fund for compensation. In the future, we will strictly regulate product standards and strive to regain the public's trust in us."

Automakers have recalled, and there have been news of class action lawsuits by customers in Europe and the United States, including some previous car accidents have also begun to be turned over, believing that there are factors related to Takata airbags.

Most importantly, the media also traced back to 2009, when Takata had bowed and apologized for the airbag murder incident caused by its products.

——"Unforgivable Japanese safety manufacturers!"

——"Companies like Takata cannot escape bankruptcy!"

——《If bowing works, Takata won't make the same mistake again!》

Takata's press conference had no effect at all. What made the Japanese media even more embarrassed was that Kobe Steel issued a statement one day later.

Unlike Takata's previous stubbornness, Kobe Steel's attitude was much more submissive, saying that it had received feedback and complaints, and initially believed that there might be problems with some product processes. It was investigating seriously and would soon give a conclusion.

"There might be problems."

Such a tone is considered a disguised admission in the current context, and the impact of the product investigation that may be triggered by this may even exceed that of Takata airbags.

On October 19, the first edition of the "Nikkei" used "What's wrong with Japanese companies" as a huge bold title, discussing the situation of four well-known companies and the epitome of the development of Japanese companies in recent years.

It first focused on criticizing the problems of Sony, Takata, Kobe Steel, and Olympus, then talked about the decline of Japanese companies' global influence, and finally expressed the need to reflect.

The stock prices of four companies have fallen, Takata may go bankrupt, Kobe's hidden dangers are more dangerous, Olympus's mechanism has allowed it to commit fraud for 20 years, and Sony's reform has fallen into a quagmire.

What happened?

As the "Nikkei" initiated reflection and discussion, Japanese public opinion and the public finally turned their perspective and set off a big discussion on Japanese companies.

However, this scene made Fang Zhuo feel familiar.

It seems that we have discussed it last time. I vaguely remember that it was Sony that started it. It was the Japanese public opinion discussion brought about by "Sony Shock 1.0", and the deeper discussion was about the problems of the Japanese electronics industry.

This time it is not only the Japanese electronics industry, but a broader overall level of enterprises.

Fang Zhuo remembered the scene a few years ago, and some people also remembered the discussion and celebrity guests at that time.

The discussion is still the same, but the guests are more important and more celebrity.

Some Japanese fans and Japanese media x-on:Fang Zhuo on Twitter, wanting him to talk about his ideas, and also wanting to interview him by phone or online.

Fang Zhuo did not directly refuse, but just pointed out a question: "Is it too early to discuss now? WikiLeaks seems to be not over yet."

"Let the bankrupt be bankrupt, let the reorganized be reorganized, fraud must be criticized, and reform must find the right direction."

He quoted a famous saying: "A true warrior dares to face the bleak life and the blood."

As a business leader familiar to the Japanese media and the public, Fang Zhuo's words were published in newspapers and magazines, and he also received more interviews and program invitations.

However, when Kong Yu arrived in New York and saw these situations, a thought emerged in his mind: who stabbed this bloody blood with a knife?

Well, the murderer always likes to return to the crime scene...