Mitsubishi Electric Corp. Chairman Masaki Sakuyama resigned Friday after a panel of outside experts said an "inward-looking and closed" corporate culture was to blame for decades of cheating by the company in inspections for train-use equipment.

The panel also said Mitsubishi Electric employees involved in the scandal lacked awareness of the need to ensure quality through proper procedures, urging the major electronics maker to improve its culture.

Sakuyama also stepped down as a vice chairman of the Japan Business Federation, known as Keidanren.

Mitsubishi said earlier that employees at its plant in Nagasaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, did not conduct quality-related tests as required for products such as train air conditioners and air compressors. The inspection cheating is believed to have taken place for over three decades.

At a different plant in Japan, the company used different materials from those registered.

The release of the investigation report by the experts, including lawyers, follows the replacement of Takeshi Sugiyama as president and CEO in July.

The Japanese electronics maker said it will strive to create a corporate culture in which "employees feel that they can consult with their superiors," and that "tolerates failures" and "fosters collaboration to solve issues through shared information."

Mitsubishi will invite a chief quality officer from outside the company next April to lead efforts to ensure compliance and raise awareness of product quality among its employees.

In 2018, a Mitsubishi Electric subsidiary revealed it had shipped rubber products that did not satisfy promised quality standards. Last year, Mitsubishi Electric said automotive radio receivers shipped to the European Union did not meet local standards.

==Kyodo

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