Daihatsu to Suspend Shipments of All Models amid Test Scandal

Jiji Press

13:55 JST, December 20, 2023

Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Daihatsu Motor Co. said Wednesday that it will suspend shipments of all vehicle models made in Japan and abroad due to an unfolding scandal over misconduct in its crash tests.

The Japanese automaker has found that almost all models made by the company are affected by the misconduct, up from six revealed so far, people familiar with the matter said.

An independent committee set up by the Toyota Motor Corp. unit to investigate the scandal reported the outcome of the probe to the transport ministry on Wednesday.

According to the report by the committee, 174 cases of misconduct in 25 test items were newly found. The ministry will conduct an on-site inspection of Daihatsu on Thursday.

In April, Daihatsu said it found irregularities in side-collision safety tests involving four models for overseas sales.

In May, the automaker said test misconduct was also found for two models sold in Japan and suspended production and shipments of them. The six affected models include vehicles supplied to Toyota.

Since mid-October, the two automakers have canceled customer orders for the two models sold in Japan due to uncertainty about when Daihatsu will be able to resume production.

Another Toyota unit, Hino Motors Ltd., has also been mired in a scandal over engine test irregularities.