The Japanese car brand Daihatsu, a subsidiary of Toyota, temporarily suspends the delivery of all its models. The announcement comes after an independent investigation revealed that safety tests had been tampered with. Models from Toyota, among others, are also involved.
Daihatsu had already admitted in the spring to falsifying the crash test results of six models. An independent investigation was subsequently launched. This shows 174 irregularities in 25 tests, in addition to the irregularities identified in April and May. A total of 64 models are involved, including cars from Toyota, Mazda and Subaru. At Daihatsu, this concerns almost every model in the range.
‘Fundamental reform needed’
Parent company Toyota apologizes in a press release for “the inconvenience and concern this situation has caused.” The company also announced it was suspending deliveries of the affected models. “Fundamental reform” is needed, Toyota said in the press release. Later on Wednesday, the chairmen of Daihatsu and Toyota will hold a joint press conference.
Daihatsu withdrew from the European market more than ten years ago. Toyota’s subsidiary brand specializes in small cars. In fiscal year 2022, the brand sold more than 1.7 million cars worldwide, about half of which were produced in Japan.
Previous fraud
Daihatsu had admitted fraud in crash test results in April. At that time, there were approximately 88,000 recently sold vehicles that rolled off the production line in Thailand and Malaysia. The Japanese Ministry of Transport already announced that it would go on site for an inspection on Thursday.
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