earlier on Friday called the latest scandal "a betrayal of trust in Japanese manufacturing," pointing to the amount of time Mitsubishi Materials took to reveal the wrongdoing.
The company said Mitsubishi Cable distorted data on as much as 20 percent of its rubber sealing products, used in aircraft and cars, for two-and-a-half years from April 2015. Of 229 potentially affected customers, 40 have been informed.
Another subsidiary, Mitsubishi Shindoh Co Ltd, manipulated data for metal products, used in cars and electronics, as far back as October 2016. Around half of 29 potentially affected customers have been informed.
Mitsubishi Materials, said it stopped shipping affected materials from the two units in October. In both cases the company said it had not found any safety or legal problems. A third subsidiary, Mitsubishi Aluminum Co Ltd, also shipped products which did not meet customers´ specifications.
The safety of products has been confirmed with the 16 affected customers, the parent said. Mitsubishi Materials said it did not know whether there would be any impact on its financial outlook.
The company has reported the matter to Japan´s trade, transport and defence ministries, and on Friday said some products supplied to the defence ministry did not meet ministry requirements.
Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said his ministry is working to establish any impact of the wrongdoing but does not currently plan to stop using any equipment. Affected products were used in such equipment as aircraft engines.
Mitsubishi Materials does not directly supply parts to Airbus SE, which has not yet identified any suppliers receiving products from the company, an Airbus spokesman said.
Other manufacturers such as Boeing Co, Honda Motor Co Ltd, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Nissan said they were looking into the issue, company spokespeople confirmed. Toyota Motor Corp said it does not directly procure any affected parts for domestic production, and is still confirming whether its suppliers do.