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As Japan’s car safety scandal widens, Toyota halts some shipments
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A Daihatsu factory in western Japan, pictured on Dec. 25, 2023, when Toyota’s small car unit said it would suspend production at all domestic plants due to a safety testing scandal.
Tokyo – A safety testing scandal at Japanese automakers escalated on Monday, with Toyota Motor and Mazda suspending shipments of some vehicles after Japan’s Ministry of Transport found irregularities in certification applications for certain models.
Irregularities were also found in Honda applications (HMC), Suzuki and Yamaha Motor, the ministry said. Automakers were found to have submitted incorrect or manipulated safety test data when they applied for vehicle certification.
The ministry ordered Toyota (MT), largest car manufacturer in the world by number of vehicles sold, Mazda and Yamaha will suspend shipments of some vehicles.
The latest revelations came after the ministry asked automakers in January to investigate certification requests following a safety testing scandal at Toyota’s Daihatsu compact car unit that emerged last year.
Monday’s developments are also expected to increase focus on Toyota’s annual general meeting later this month. Influential proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis recommended that shareholders vote against the re-election of Akio Toyoda as chairman of the meeting.
In a report to shareholders, ISS highlighted the “wave of certification irregularities” at the Toyota Group.
Toyoda, grandson of the carmaker’s founder, told reporters on Monday: “As the head of the Toyota Group, I would like to sincerely apologize to our customers, car fans and all interested parties for this.”
He said the cars hadn’t gone through the correct certification process before they are sold. Toyota said it had temporarily suspended shipments and sales of three Japanese-made car models.
Scandals at automakers are proving a sore point for the Japanese government, which has otherwise received praise from investors and executives for its corporate reforms. Government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi called the misconduct “regrettable.”
Toyota said its wrongdoing occurred during six different tests carried out in 2014, 2015 and 2020. The affected models were the Corolla Fielder, Corolla Axio and Yaris Cross, and discontinued versions of four popular models, including one sold under the Lexus luxury brand.
In one example, the company measured collision damage on one side of a model’s hood, while it was necessary to do so on both sides.
Toyota too said it is still investigating issues related to vehicle fuel efficiency and emissions and aims to complete that investigation by the end of June.
He added that There were no performance issues that violated regulations and customers did not have to stop using their cars.
Toyota shares closed down 1.8%, in contrast to a 0.9% gain in the broad Topix index.
Mazda suspended shipments of its Roadster RF sports car and Mazda2 hatchback on Thursday last week after discovering that workers modified test results of engine control software, it said in a statement.
It also found that Crash tests of the Atenza and Axela models, which are no longer in production, were tampered with by using a timer to deploy airbags during some frontal crash tests, rather than relying on an onboard sensor to detect an impact.
Mazda shares fell 3.3%.
Yamaha said it has suspended shipments of a sports motorcycle.
Honda said it found irregularities in noise and power tests over a period of more than eight years, through October 2017, in about two dozen models that are no longer in production.