Falsifying safety tests: Toyota subsidiary suspends deliveries

This is a radical solution. Japanese car maker Daihatsu, a subsidiary of Toyota, announced this Wednesday that it would suspend deliveries of all its models after an independent investigation found numerous instances of “rigging” in its safety tests.

Daihatsu, which made the claim itself, admitted in April and May last year to falsifying crash test results for six of its models, and an independent investigation commission was set up to “fully clarify the nature of the violations and identify their root cause.”

The investigation found 174 violations among 25 test categories, the oldest of which date back to 1989, according to a report released Wednesday and submitted to Japan’s Transport Ministry.

These violations affect a total of 64 vehicle models, including models that are no longer in production, including models produced on behalf of Toyota, Mazda and Subaru.

Daihatsu offered its “deepest apologies” to its customers for “betraying their trust” and decided to “temporarily suspend deliveries of all models developed by Daihatsu and currently produced in Japan and overseas.”

In its report, a panel of independent experts attributed Daihatsu’s shortcomings to factors including “excessive pressure from overly tight and rigid development schedules” and a lack of management experience.

Personnel responsible for the safety tests “were under great pressure to pass them” because “the number of available test vehicles was limited to reduce costs,” investigation commission president Makoto Kaiami detailed during a press conference on Wednesday. “The prevailing view was that no failure would be forgiven,” he added.

Japan’s Transport Ministry is due to inspect Daihatsu’s premises on Thursday to try to confirm the facts contained in the report, public broadcaster NHK reported.

“Extreme Gravity”

Toyota itself, in a separate statement, expressed its “sincere apologies for the inconvenience and concern this situation has caused” and also announced that it would suspend deliveries of the affected models.

The purpose of the checks is to ensure that “vehicles meet various standards so that customers can drive their vehicles with complete peace of mind” and that they are “an important prerequisite for operating as a car manufacturer,” Toyota said.

The “extreme seriousness” of Daihatsu’s negligence in the certification process shook the very foundations of the company as a car manufacturer, he added.

Last April, Daihatsu admitted to falsifying crash test results for four of its models, covering a total of 88,000 vehicles produced in Thailand and Malaysia in 2022 and 2023.

Then in May, the company announced it would cease production of two hybrid vehicle models in Japan due to similar “irregularities,” including the Toyota Raize SUV produced on behalf of the parent company.

In the 2022/23 financial year, which ended at the end of March last year, Daihatsu produced more than 1.7 million vehicles worldwide, about half of which were in Japan.

The specialist in Japan’s wildly popular mini-cars called kei cars, which has a market share of about 30%, generates most of its sales in the archipelago and Southeast Asia.

Founded in 1907 to produce internal combustion engines, the company, based in Osaka, western Japan, produced its first three-wheeled car in 1931. In 1967, it came under the control of Toyota.