Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu stops production

A huge fraud scandal is rocking the Japanese car industry. The small car manufacturer Daihatsu has allegedly been systematically manipulating crash test results since 1989. Models from its parent company Toyota are also affected.

The Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu has also stopped production at its last plant in Japan. This was preceded by the revelation of a huge safety scandal: Daihatsu had already admitted in the spring that it had manipulated the results of crash tests on some models. A week ago, the Japanese small car manufacturer therefore suspended all deliveries of its cars worldwide.

In April, it became known that Daihatsu had falsified the safety tests of four car models at its plants in Malaysia and Thailand. As a result, an independent commission of experts was appointed, which presented its report last Wednesday: it appears that Daihatsu has been manipulating safety tests for decades. The Japanese government has announced inspections of all Daihatsu factories.

Daihatsu produced around 870,000 vehicles in Japan last year. As the British "Guardian" reports, the production stop will initially apply until the end of January. More than 9,000 employees and more than 8,000 suppliers are affected. The damage across the entire supply chain is said to amount to the equivalent of more than 15 billion US dollars.

Irregularities in 25 test categories

In their report, the experts write that they discovered a total of 174 further "irregularities" in 25 test categories, some of which date back to 1989. They cited tests on doors or side impact protection, for example. A total of 64 models were affected, including models that are no longer produced and 22 that Daihatsu manufactures for Toyota, Mazda or Subaru.

The reason for the manipulated tests was primarily "extreme time pressure" in the development of models, according to the experts. The employees responsible for the safety tests were under enormous pressure to succeed. Cars had to pass the accident test at the first attempt in order to reduce the number of vehicles that had to be destroyed. This was intended to reduce costs. "The prevailing view was that mistakes cannot be excused," said Makoto Kaiami, chairman of the expert commission.

The head of Daihatsu, Soichiro Okudaira, apologized to customers during a press conference for having betrayed their trust. Approval tests are "indispensable" for a car manufacturer, he said. "Our behavior deserves contempt".

Toyota models also affected

The parent company Toyota also expressed its "sincere apologies" for the "inconvenience and concern" that this "situation" had caused. Daihatsu's misconduct had "shaken the foundations of the Group". Deliveries of the affected Toyota models have been suspended for the time being. Toyota will also check whether customers can continue to use their vehicles without worry.

Toyota announced "fundamental reforms" at Daihatsu. It was only last year that it emerged that tests at truck manufacturer Hino were inadequate. Toyota is the majority owner.

Daihatsu produced more than 1.7 million cars in the financial year ending in March, most of them in Japan. The Toyota subsidiary sells most of its cars on the domestic market and in Asia. Daihatsu started producing cars in 1931 with a three-wheeled vehicle. The company has been part of Toyota since 1967.