Toyota-owned Daihatsu halts sales over new safety report

Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu said Wednesday it will suspend shipments of all car models currently in production both in Japan and abroad, following new revelations about its rigging of safety tests.

Full blame taken

“The investigation found that there were 174 new cases in 25 test items, in addition to the door trim irregularity in April and the pole side collision test irregularity in May,” Daihatsu said in a statement.

“There were irregularities found in 64 models and three engines (total number of models in production/development and discontinued), including those that had already been discontinued.

The models included both Daihatsu brand vehicles and models supplied as OEM models to Toyota Motor Corporation, Mazda Motor Corporation and Subaru Corporation. We deeply apologise to our customers and other stakeholders for causing great inconvenience and concern and betraying their trust”.

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It added, “in response to these findings, we decided today to temporarily suspend shipment of all Daihatsu-developed models currently in production, both in Japan and overseas.

“We will report to and consult with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as well as the relevant authorities in each country, and proceed with the necessary actions”.

With certification being a “major prerequisite” for an automobile manufacturer to conduct business, “we recognise the extreme gravity” of Daihatsu’s neglect, which has “shaken the very foundations of the company as an automobile manufacturer”, Toyota said.

Public broadcaster NHK reported that Japan’s transport ministry will conduct an on-site inspection of Daihatsu on Thursday.

In a summary of its report published Wednesday, the independent panel blamed Daihatsu’s misconduct on factors including “extreme pressure due to an excessively tight and rigid development schedule” and the managers’ lack of expertise.

The work environment also lacked transparency, and “even if irregularities or deceptions were committed, they would not be detected,” the report said.

Timeline

In April, Daihatsu admitted falsifying crash test results for four of its models, involving a total of 88 000 vehicles manufactured in Thailand and Malaysia in 2022 and 2023.

Then in May, it announced it was halting production in Japan of two hybrid vehicle models because of similar “irregularities”, including the Toyota Raize SUV, manufactured on behalf of its parent company.

“We believe in order to prevent recurrence, in addition to a review of certification operations, a fundamental reform is needed to revitalise Daihatsu as a company,” Toyota said.

In its statement, Daihatsu concluded by saying, “we will implement thorough measures to prevent occurrences of similar events in the future, based on the recommendations of the Independent Third-Party Committee.

“We will not only review and revise certification operations, but we will also make sweeping reforms to our corporate culture to make compliance the highest priority. With the full support of Toyota, we will work as one towards redeeming the company.

“We will devote our full efforts to regaining the trust of our stakeholders and once again becoming a manufacturer that can supply “people’s transportation” suitable for Japan’s land and roads”.

South Africa excluded seemingly

Although present in South Africa until 2015, older Toyota-badged Daihatsu models have seemingly not been subjected to the same findings.

These include the Avanza and Rush, the former known as the Daihatsu Xenia and the latter as the Terios. Both officially replaced by the Rumion, based on the Suzuki Ertiga, in 2021.

Additional reporting by Charl Bosch

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