© Reuters. Toyota (TM) stops all shipments of Daihatsu brand vehicles
toyota (NYSE:) revealed Wednesday that the automaker's Daihatsu small car unit will halt shipments of all of its vehicles following a safety investigation that found problems involving 64 models, including nearly two dozen sold under the Toyota brand.
Toyota said the affected models included those destined for Southeast Asian markets such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam. Additionally, the affected models spread to countries in Central and South America, including Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Uruguay.
A team of impartial investigators has been scrutinizing Daihatsu after its admission in April of manipulating side crash safety tests conducted on 88,000 small cars, many of which were marketed as Toyotas.
The investigation found that Daihatsu used different airbag control units in the tests than those in cars sold to the public, affecting Toyota and Mazda models. Toyota did not mention any known accidents due to this problem. They acknowledged that some tests may not meet legal standards, although the airbag met safety requirements.
The panel also found falsified reports on headrest impact tests and test speeds for certain models. The investigation revealed that this misconduct became especially widespread starting in 2014. In the case of a Daihatsu vehicle that had already been discontinued, this behavior dated back to 1989.
The chairman of the independent investigation committee mentioned that the panel did not attribute responsibility to Toyota for the misconduct. Instead, Daihatsu seemed to struggle to live up to its self-imposed expectations.
Japan's Transport Ministry said they plan to conduct an on-site inspection at Daihatsu's headquarters in Osaka on Thursday.
Daihatsu produces several so-called smaller “kei” cars and trucks, popular in Japan. The recent issues also affected certain Mazda and Subaru models available in the region, along with Toyota and Daihatsu models sold internationally, as highlighted by the investigation panel's findings.
Toyota said a “fundamental reform” was needed to revitalize Daihatsu, as well as an overhaul of certification operations.
In response, Toyota emphasized the need for “fundamental reform” to restore Daihatsu, along with a comprehensive reassessment of certification procedures.
“This will be an extremely important task that cannot be accomplished overnight,” Toyota said in a statement. “It will require not only a review of management and business operations, but also a review of organization and structure.”
TM shares fell 0.90% in early trading on Wednesday.
