In fairness to the Japanese, the judge also said that there is no proof to determine how the cars got irradiated. The facts only show that they had been exposed to excessive Beta and Gamma rays making them unsafe to use, but not how they got exposed.
In line with train of thought, if one looks at the competition, it’s easy to see how possible it is to contaminate cars in order to steer buyers to non-Japanese cars. The auto industry is so competitive, it is possible that out of the hundreds of cars exported out of Japan, someone deliberately contaminated the 5 vehicles. Just look at the facts:
- The 6 cars were part of a 170 vehicle shipment to the Russian island of Sakhalin
- In the April Car show in China, the world’s leading buyer of vehicles today, car makers from Korea, Japan, China, Germany, the United States and other countries were present to sell their products
- Knowing the production headaches most Japanese car companies are going through, the ability to fulfill orders was used as a selling point by other countries
- Radiation was a factor not openly discussed but ever present in backroom chats
- Expected new vehicle sales in China was 20 million units in 2010 and expected to increase by at least 10% this year
Still, Japanese car makers remain positive about their new models. These models were designed to cater specifically to the Chinese market. The main strategy of all Japanese vehicle firms was to stress the safety of their products and a new thrust to be more environmentally friendly.
Honda announced it will begin making smaller electric cars for 2012; Mitsubishi Motors will begin production of Global Small which is a fuel-efficient car; and Nissan remodeled its Tiida compact and will begin selling any time soon.