Comments by Mr Noboru Matsuda, Business Ethics Committee Chairman Tokyo, March 30, 2005  — While acknowledging that internal disciplinary measures are, in the end, a matter for management to decide upon, the Business Ethics Committee presented the following views on the subject. The Extraordinary Recall Problem Council made its recommendations after deliberating, from an impartial position, on evidence from fresh hearings conducted by the company and other material. The Business Ethics Committee has, right from the beginning, asked the company to bring to light all the facts relating to the cover up of defects requiring recalls, to ascertain responsibility of those in senior managerial posts and, in the interests of the company's revitalization, to draw a clear line between right and wrong. In that sense, the Committee commends the disciplinary measures announced today. The claims for damages are the subject of a civil suit and so the Committee asks the company to ensure these measures satisfy all legal requirements. In particular, the Committee asks the company to ensure that the claims do not conflict with the validity of the settlement reached in an earlier shareholders' action. A claim for damages looks at civil liability and as such should be evaluated and studied from a different perspective than a criminal case. The Committee entreats the company to fully recognize that the disciplinary measures announced today represent only the first step on the path to revitalization and hopes fervently that all associated with the company will persist in their efforts to establish and maintain structures and systems that meet legal and ethical compliance requirements.