Toyota's Daihatsu shuts factories in safety test probe

A week after stopping deliveries, Toyota’s Daihatsu unit has shut down production lines at its four factories in Japan.

The move comes after it was revealed the company had fudged safety tests in more than 64 models and three vehicle engines, including 22 models and an engine sold by Toyota.

The affected models include some from Mazda and Subaru sold in Japan, as well as models from Toyota and Daihatsu sold worldwide.

Daihatsu announced that it had shut down its production units in Shiga, Kyoto, Oita and Osaka on Tuesday, and some media reports predict it will remain closed through January. Toyota has also decided to cease shipments of affected vehicles temporarily.

In April, safety irregularity issues in around 88,000 small cars made in Thailand and Malaysia in 2022 and 2023 came to light.

Later in May, the company stopped production of two hybrid vehicle models - Toyota Raize SUV and Rocky - citing similar safety problems.

In a probe against the unit by an independent third-party committee, 174 new cases related to procedural irregularities in 25 test categories were found, in addition to the previously mentioned issues.

No deaths or fatalities have been reported so far.

It was also discovered that a different airbag control unit (ECU) than the mass production model was used for testing airbags in Daihatsu Move/Subaru Stella, Daihatsu Cast/Toyota Pixis Joy, Daihatsu Gran Max/Toyota Town Ace/Mazda Bongo.

However, in technical verification, the airbag met occupant protection performance standards.

It was also found that the “Safety Performance Standard for Occupant Evacuation (Unlocking)“ in the side collision test of Daihatsu Cast/Toyota Pixis Joy didn’t comply with the standards set by law.

Reacting to the probe, the company said it has started conducting one-by-one in-house technical verifications and vehicle testing to ensure its safety standards are at par with legal requirements.

Daihatsu was founded in 1907 to manufacture internal combustion engines. It assembled approximately 870,000 vehicles during the 2022 fiscal year.