Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu halts global car shipments
Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu announced on Wednesday a suspension of all car model shipments in Japan and abroad after an independent panel uncovered safety test rigging dating back to 1989.
The malpractice, affecting 174 items within 25 test categories, led Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker, to issue “sincere apologies” and pledge a “fundamental reform.”
The investigation, initiated earlier this year in response to a safety scandal emerging in April, uncovered additional irregularities beyond those identified in April and May.
These included issues with door parts and side-collision tests, prompting Daihatsu President Soichiro Okudaira to express remorse, bowing deeply to reporters.
Certification, deemed a “major prerequisite” for an automobile manufacturer, faced a severe breach, according to Okudaira, who acknowledged the company’s “disregard” for the certification process.
Toyota, in a statement, recognized the “extreme gravity” of Daihatsu’s neglect, asserting that it has “shaken the very foundations of the company as an automobile manufacturer.”
The outside panel of experts attributed the decades-long irregularities to “an excessively tight and rigid development schedule.”
Daihatsu employees, under intense pressure to pass crash tests on the first attempt, were reportedly driven by a mindset of “‘No failure can be forgiven,'” said committee chair Makoto Kaiami.
With the tally of car models linked to wrongdoing now at 64, including some under the Toyota brand, all shipments have been temporarily suspended. While no accidents related to the falsifications have been reported, Toyota is conducting “thorough technical verification.”
Japan’s transport ministry is set to conduct an on-site inspection of Daihatsu on Thursday, following the revelation.
The panel also attributed Daihatsu’s misconduct to a lack of managerial expertise and an opaque work environment, noting that irregularities or deceptions would go undetected.
Daihatsu, founded in 1907 and acquired by Toyota in 1967, had previously admitted to falsifying crash test results in April for four models, involving 88,000 vehicles manufactured in Thailand and Malaysia in 2022 and 2023.
The company later halted production in Japan of two hybrid vehicle models in May due to similar “irregularities.”
Toyota emphasized the need for a “fundamental reform” to prevent a recurrence, stating, “We believe… a fundamental reform is needed to revitalize Daihatsu as a company.”
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