Last week we reported on Daihatsu halting sales and shipments of all of its cars amid a probe into the Toyota subsidiary rigging safety tests of 64 different models, and now the situation has gotten even worse. On Wednesday, CNN reported that Daihatsu has now stopped production at all four of its Japanese factories, with the company admitting that it has forged the results of crash tests for more than 3o years.
The factory shutdowns will last at least through the end of January and affect around 9,000 employees; there’s no word on whether Daihatsu’s plants in Indonesia and Malaysia will be affected. The shutdowns come after transport ministry officials conducted a deeper probe following the previous findings, as CNN reports:
The scandal is another blow to the automaker, which had admitted in April to violating standards on crash tests on more than 88,000 cars, mostly sold under the Toyota brand in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.
In that case, “the inside lining of the front seat door was improperly modified” for some checks, while Daihatsu did not comply with regulatory requirements for certain side collision tests, it said in a statement at the time.
In May, the automaker said it had discovered more wrongdoing, revealing that it had submitted incorrect data for collision tests on two hybrid electric vehicles. The company said at the time it had stopped shipping and selling those models.
The latest probe further threatens the company’s reputation. According to a report released last Wednesday by the investigative committee, 174 more cases were found of Daihatsu manipulating data, making false statements or improperly tinkering with vehicles to pass safety certification tests.
According to the investigation, the oldest case is from 1989, while the volume of cases has notably increased since 2014. Some of the affected models fall under the Mazda, Subaru and Toyota brands. Following the news Toyota’s shares dropped four percent, and the company released a statement about the situation. From CNN:
In response, the Japanese behemoth has promised to shake up its subsidiary, saying in a statement last week that “fundamental reform is needed to revitalize Daihatsu.”
“This will be an extremely significant task that cannot be accomplished overnight,” Toyota said, adding that it would require a sweeping review of management, operations, and how the unit was structured.
“We recognize the extreme gravity of the fact that Daihatsu’s neglect of the certification process has shaken the very foundations of the company as an automobile manufacturer,” Toyota added.
There have been no reports of accidents or deaths due to the rigged tests. Daihatsu was first founded in 1951, with Toyota first becoming a major shareholder in 1967, increasing its stake to 51.2 percent in 1998 and taking on Daihatsu as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2016. Daihatsu mostly focuses on small cars and trucks, especially kei vehicles, and it has produced more than 1.1 million cars so far this year.