Daihatsu suspends production in Japan after safety test scandal
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The Toyota subsidiary, Daihatsu, has acknowledged the falsification of safety data on models spanning over 30 years.
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Daihatsu Motor sales office in Tokyo on December 22, 2023. (AFP)
On Tuesday, Japanese automaker Daihatsu halted production at its only remaining domestic factory, marking a pause in operations as the Toyota subsidiary confronts a safety testing scandal involving 64 models spanning over three decades.
The information of manipulated crash test data initially surfaced in April, when the company acknowledged the falsification of information about four models produced in Thailand and Malaysia between 2022 and the present year.
Subsequently, the company admitted to comparable issues throughout the majority of its production process, as an internal investigation revealed falsified data dating back to 1989.
“We betrayed the trust of our customers,” said Daihatsu CEO Soichiro Okudaira at a Tokyo press conference last week, adding that “All the blame is on the management.”
'Investigations and shipment suspension'
On December 20, the company declared a suspension of shipments for all models, pending further investigations and safety inspections. Preliminary findings suggest that a shortage of vehicle development time was a primary factor leading to shortcuts in safety checks.
Makoto Kaiami, the head of the investigating panel, stated, "Employees faced significant pressure, and there was a widespread perception that altering sales schedules due to test failures was unacceptable."
Daihatsu has pinpointed a significant safety concern related to doors that may become challenging to open from the outside after an accident. It's important to note that there have been no reports of injuries associated with this particular issue.
Included in the 64 models are vehicles manufactured by Daihatsu under contract for Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru.
Read next: Toyota to cut global production plan by 100,000 units
Production is expected to remain suspended at Daihatsu's factories across Japan until at least the end of January, impacting 9,000 employees and over 8,000 suppliers. In the previous year, Daihatsu manufactured approximately 870,000 vehicles in Japan, contributing to a supply chain valued at around 2.2 trillion yen ($15 billion).
Founded in Osaka in 1907 and acquired by Toyota in 1967, Daihatsu is presently engaged in negotiations with unions and suppliers regarding compensation while production remains on hold.
In 2014, Daihatsu's parent company, Toyota, reached a landmark settlement of $1.2 billion with the US Justice Department. This settlement was related to a series of claims involving accelerator pedals and the resulting accidents. Despite extensive investigations, no mechanical fault was identified, and the most probable cause for the crashes was attributed to driver error.
