Toyota-affiliate Daihatsu Admits Rigging Safety Test For 88,000 Cars, Including Toyota-branded Cars

Toyota-affiliate Daihatsu rigged safety test for 88,000+ cars, including Toyota-branded vehicles.

Issue affected Toyota Yaris Ativ, Perodua Axia, Toyota Agya and an undisclosed upcoming model.

Toyota Motor Corporation also admits some Daihatsu crash test cars were rigged for better results.

Daihatsu said it will re-test affected vehicles with inspection and certification authorities present.

Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, has admitted rigging part of the door in side-collision safety tests for some 88,000 vehicles destined for overseas markets.

The issue affected four models, most of which Daihatsu sold under the Toyota brand. They include 76,289 units of Thailand/Malaysia-made Toyota Yaris Ativ as well as 21,783 units of Perodua Axia. Indonesian-made Toyota Agya that was destined for Ecuador as well as an undisclosed upcoming product were also affected.

In a statement, the Daihatsu confirmed that in the side collision tests of the affected models, the inside lining of the front seat door was improperly modified to get better results.

“Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. (Daihatsu) has confirmed that it has committed procedural irregularity in approval application for side collision tests for vehicles (4 models) developed by Daihatsu destined for overseas markets.”

“We deeply apologize for betraying the trust of our customers and other stakeholders and for causing great inconvenience and concern.”, Daihatsu said.

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Toyota Chairman, Akio Toyoda, who apologised for the unacceptable violation of consumer trust, said the companies were investigating how the side-panel of the models had been changed for safety testing.

“It has come to light that Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. (Daihatsu) has been found to have committed wrongdoing in the side impact test of its vehicles for overseas markets.”

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and concern this may cause to our customers, dealers, and other concerned parties who are currently using these vehicles.,” comments from Akio Toyoda, Toyota Chairman of the Board.

Daihatsu said it has stopped the sales of affected four models, adding that it will re-test them with inspection and certification authorities present.

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