(CNN in Spanish) — As of Tuesday, December 26, Daihatsu – the Japanese automaker owned by Toyota – has halted production at its four plants in Japan after admitting to falsifying safety test results on its cars for more than 30 years.
A Daihatsu spokesperson told CNN that the plant closures will continue until at least the end of January and will affect about 9,000 employees.
This security scandal was announced by Daihatsu And Toyota Since last December 20. This situation has deepened the crisis of the Japanese brand, which in April and May this year was embroiled in other security problems.
The Daihatsu scandal is so serious that Toyota said it “shaken the foundation of the company.”
What happened to Daihatsu?
On December 20, Daihatsu announced in a statement that an independent panel had found evidence of tampering with safety tests in up to 64 vehicle models, including 22 models sold under the Toyota brand.
For its part, Toyota also published the results of the independent commission's investigation.
The independent committee explained in its report that it found 174 cases in which Daihatsu tampered with data, made false statements or improperly modified vehicles to pass safety certification tests.
The oldest case dates back to 1989, with a noticeable increase in the number of cases since 2014, according to the report.
The 174 cases include the above 64 vehicle models (22 sold by Toyota) as well as three vehicle engines (one sold by Toyota).
Following this news, Daihatsu said it would temporarily suspend all domestic and international vehicle shipments and consult with authorities on how to proceed.
In response, Toyota promised to reorganize its subsidiary, saying in a statement last week that “fundamental reform is necessary to revitalize Daihatsu.”
This is Daihatsu's latest safety scandal, but it's not the only one in 2023:
- In April, Daihatsu admitted to violating crash test rules on more than 88,000 cars, most of which were sold under the Toyota brand in countries including Malaysia and Thailand.
- In May, the automaker said it uncovered more violations and revealed that it had provided incorrect crash test data for two hybrid electric cars.
What models are affected by the latest release?
Daihatsu shared on their website List of 64 models affected by safety scandal in December.
Among these models, there are many models that were shipped outside Japan, for example, to several Latin American countries such as Chile, Ecuador, Chile and Uruguay.
Below, we leave you the full list of affected models:
With reports from CNN's Michelle Toh
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