Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. said Wednesday it will take measures to prevent a recurrence of the defect that caused wheels to detach from its large vehicles, proving fatal on one occasion.
"We regret the insufficient pursuit of the root cause for hub breakage as well as the insufficient sensitivity toward safety issues," Mitsubishi Fuso chief executive Wilfried Porth told a news conference at a Tokyo hotel.
Mitsubishi Fuso said it will set up an independent advisory committee of 20 external experts who specialize in such areas as corporate governance and technology. Mitsubishi Fuso Chairman Michio Hori will be an internal representative.
Hori was appointed chairman Tuesday, succeeding Takashi Usami, who resigned to take responsibility for the scandal.
The committee will begin analyzing quality management in early May, and will report the outcome of its studies to Porth every month, the automaker said.
Mitsubishi Fuso will also separate its design sector and testing office to clarify the responsibility of each section, Porth said.
It has also set up a committee to reform Mitsubishi Fuso's corporate culture, which comprises 12 middle-management staff.
Hori said, "When we look back, there were points in our past conduct that we have to reflect on."
Mitsubishi Fuso has been conducting an in-house investigation in the wake of the hub recall.
Porth said two investigative teams are going over related documents and talking to all people connected to the hub problems.
The results will be reported to Porth in May before being released publicly, it said.
Mitsubishi Fuso has been criticized for the delay in issuing a recall of its defective large vehicles.
It recalled some 112,000 large vehicles in March to change defective front-wheel hubs, followed by a recall of some 21,770 vehicles to change rear-wheel hub problems earlier this month.