Japanese car giant Nissan on Thursday slashed its forecast for full-year operating profit after admitting that a damaging inspection scandal last year had "adversely impacted" the firm's performance. Nissan said it now expects operating profit of 565 billion yen ($5.2 billion) for the fiscal year to March 2018, a drop of 12.4 percent from its previous estimate in November.
"During the period, the Group's performance was adversely impacted by special items related to the final vehicle inspection issue in Japan, along with slowing sales growth, negative pricing trends and inventory adjustments in the US market," it said in a statement. Nissan was forced to recall some 1.2 million vehicles after admitting in October that staff without proper authorisation had conducted final inspections on some vehicles intended for the domestic market before they were shipped to dealers.
The automaker suspended all domestic production for a few weeks, sending its passenger car sales plummeting more than 55 percent in Japan in October. In a bid to atone for the scandal, chief executive officer Hiroto Saikawa said he was "voluntarily" returning his pay, along with other executives.
.