Toyota halts all Daihatsu shipments on safety test scandal
Published on: Wednesday, December 20, 2023
By: Bloomberg
Daihatsu is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota since 2016, producing more than 1.7 million vehicles worldwide in fiscal 2022.
TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp suspended all shipments from subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Co after a scandal revealed most of its vehicles weren’t properly tested for collision safety.
Some 174 irregularities have been identified since April when suspected wrongdoings first emerged, Toyota said Wednesday. “Fundamental reform” is needed to revitalise Daihatsu, it said.
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Previously six models were thought to be affected by the manipulated test results, but the company now says almost every car in Daihatsu’s line-up could be affected. Japan’s transport ministry said it will conduct an on-site inspection on Thursday morning local time.
Daihatsu president Soichiro Okudaira and Toyota will hold a media conference later Wednesday, following a briefing by a panel investigating the misconduct.
Daihatsu admitted in April that it fudged crash test results on 88,000 cars that were manufactured in Thailand and Malaysia and sold within the past year.
Daihatsu produced more than 1.7 million vehicles worldwide in fiscal 2022, around half of which were manufactured in Japan. It holds a roughly 30% market share for kei cars — pint-sized vehicles that have been popular for years among domestic customers — making it an industry leader along with rival Suzuki Motor Corp.
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Daihatsu, which is based in Osaka, is known for its line-up of lightweight vehicles and sedans that are widely popular across Japan and Southeast Asia, include the Gran Max pickup and vans, and Terios and Xenia passenger vehicles.
Its been a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota since 2016, and accounts for roughly 4% of Toyota Group’s global vehicle sales.
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“Since 2013, Toyota has been increasing the number of OEM models it receives from other companies, mainly compact vehicles,” the world’s biggest automaker said in the statement.
“We deeply regret that the development of these vehicles may have been a burden on Daihatsu and that we were not aware of the situation with the company’s certification operations.”
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