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 in any respect 4 of its Japanese factories, with the corporate admitting that it has forged the outcomes of crash tests for greater than 3o years.
The factory shutdowns will last at the least through the tip of January and affect around 9,000 employees; there’s no word on whether Daihatsu’s plants in Indonesia and Malaysia shall be affected. The shutdowns come after transport ministry officials conducted a deeper probe following the previous findings, as CNN reports:
The scandal is one other blow to the automaker, which had admitted in April to violating standards on crash tests on greater than 88,000 cars, mostly sold under the Toyota brand in countries similar to Malaysia and Thailand.
In that case, “the within lining of the front seat door was improperly modified” for some checks, while Daihatsu didn’t comply with regulatory requirements for certain side collision tests, it said in a press release on 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 corporate said on the time it had stopped shipping and selling those models.
The most recent probe further threatens the corporate’s repute. In keeping with 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.
In keeping with the investigation, the oldest case is from 1989, while the amount of cases has notably increased since 2014. A number of the affected models fall under the Mazda, Subaru and Toyota brands. Following the news Toyota’s shares dropped 4 percent, and the corporate released a press release concerning the situation. From CNN:
In response, the Japanese behemoth has promised to shake up its subsidiary, saying in a press release last week that “fundamental reform is required to revitalize Daihatsu.”
“This shall be a particularly significant task that can’t be achieved overnight,” Toyota said, adding that it might require a sweeping review of management, operations, and the way the unit was structured.
“We recognize the acute gravity of the proven fact that Daihatsu’s neglect of the certification process has shaken the very foundations of the corporate as an automobile manufacturer,” Toyota added.
There have been no reports of accidents or deaths as a result of the rigged tests. Daihatsu was first founded in 1951, with Toyota first becoming a significant shareholder in 1967, increasing its stake to 51.2 percent in 1998 and taking up Daihatsu as a completely owned subsidiary in 2016. Daihatsu mostly focuses on small cars and trucks, especially kei vehicles, and it has produced greater than 1.1 million cars to date this yr.
This Article First Appeared At jalopnik.com
