Fishy Business At Honda

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. has to write off 15 billion yen ($181 million) “resulting from recently discovered improper transactions at a trading business subsidiary in Tokyo,” reports The Nikkei [sub]. It was all about dead fish.

Someone at the fishery product section of Honda’s consolidated trading company must have made up sales. Company auditors found a long line of transactions since around 2004 where products were priced well above their market price or were bought and sold in circular transactions. Which has the fishy odor of some desperate soul that produced numbers instead of sales.

Honda Trading’s main business is the trading of auto and motorcycle parts, raw materials and finished vehicles. It also trades food products. Something is rotten in that department.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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