Former Mitsubishi head pleads innocent
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Katsuhiko Kawasoe
Katsuhiko Kawasoe
Kawasoe denies guilt as MMCs previous failings are aired in court
In the long running saga of negligence, the former head of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors (MMC), 68-year old Katsuhiko Kawasoe, pleaded innocent to all charges in court today. The case was brought after a fatal accident in October 2002, when a 39-year old Japanese man driving a Mitsubishi Fuso was killed, after crashing into a concrete embankment when his brakes failed.
Prosecutors say the accident was caused by a design defect, Associated Press (AP) has reported. As the charges were heard today in Yokohama District Court, Kawasoe expressed regret that the fatal accident occurred, although his defence is that he claims he knew the depth of the problems surrounding the defects in MMC trucks.
At the time of the incident, Kawasoe was the companys president. He acknowledged the Tokyo-based manufacturer had hidden defects from authorities, thought to span years. Earlier in 2004, the company and its commercial vehicle subsidiary, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp., admitted it had failed to come clean in 2000 and continued to hide the design problems.
The announcement stunned the Japanese public and sending Mitsubishi car sales into freefall. The fault in question was a clutch-housing design flaw, which at least four senior executives knew of and hid from authorities. Two of the four pleaded guilty at todays trial, the only members of the company to admit any kind of guilt in court.
Wilfried Porth, the companys current President and CEO, issued a statement expressing his sincerest apologies to the general public for the disturbances and worries caused by the clutch-housing accident happened in 2002. "We take the indictment of former MFTBC executives in this matter very seriously. At the same time, we would like to express our deepest apology and condolence to the family of the deceased," he said. "We believe the fact presented in the indictment will be clarified through the trial, and we will wait for the result of the court proceedings," Porth added.
Mitsubishi Motors