The Transport Ministry took the strictest nonpenal action possible Friday against Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. for failing to report recalls of defective cars and repairing the vehicles without notifying the ministry.

The ministry notified the Tokyo District Court of the decision concerning the Tokyo-based automaker. The court can fine Fuji up to 1.4 million yen, a Transport Ministry official said.

The automaker failed to report 1.47 million defective cars that were subjected to a recall. The firm repaired 911,000 cars without notifying the ministry, violating the Road Trucking Vehicle Law, the official said.

"This betrays the trust of users," Transport Minister Takao Fujii told a regular news conference. "It is extremely regrettable. I cannot help thinking that the firm did this systematically, because the case is large-scale."

The ministry handed a letter containing a strict warning to Takeshi Tanaka, president of the automaker, telling the firm to take necessary actions to improve quality control and to report these actions to the ministry. In a news conference held later in the day at the ministry, Tanaka apologized to users and consumers, saying the firm considers the ministry's actions very serious.

"There was a lack of understanding (among employees) concerning the relevant law and internal regulations on the recall system," Tanaka said. "As a result, it led to improper judgment on the recall... I suspect that employees thought the recall would damage the corporate image and wanted to avoid the recall as much as possible. A watch-dog system did not function."