Daihatsu Halts Shipments Amid Expanding Safety Scandal

Daihatsu, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor, recently announced that it would suspend all shipments of vehicles, both abroad and within Japan. This drastic step comes in the wake of an investigation into a safety scandal that uncovered problems in an alarming 64 vehicle models, 22 of which are part of the Toyota lineup.

This announcement follows an investigation commenced in April by an independent panel after Daihatsu admitted to manipulating side-collision safety tests for about 88,000 small cars, most of which were Toyota-branded.

The current discoveries indicate that the extent of the scandal surpasses previous estimations. It could adversely impact the automakers’ esteemed reputation for safety and quality. Toyota responded to this crisis by expressing the necessity for an in-depth reform of Daihatsu, which would entail a thorough review of certification protocols, management structures, business operations, and organizational structure.

Although the process of reforming Daihatsu is likely to be a substantial endeavor, Toyota emphasized its importance. The reform cannot be accomplished overnight and will necessitate a comprehensive investigation.

According to reports by the Asahi newspaper, the automaker, known for its small cars, had falsified safety test results for most of its existing models as well as some past ones.

In April, Daihatsu stated it had discovered the inaccurately conducted tests following a whistleblower report. The company quickly suspended shipments of the implicated models and reported the issue to relevant regulatory bodies.

The following month saw Daihatsu also suspending the sales of its own Rocky model and Toyota’s Raize hybrid electric vehicle after discovering testing issues with these two models as well.

Per Toyota’s data, Daihatsu manufactured 1.1 million vehicles in the first 10 months of this year, and approximately 40% of this production occurred at international facilities. During the same time, Daihatsu sold around 660,000 vehicles across the globe, which made up about 7% of Toyota’s overall sales.