Following the safety scandal at Daihatsu, the subsidary of Toyota Motor Corp, shipments of six car models to Southeast Asian nations have been stalled.
The affected models, including Veloz and Avanza, were developed in collaboration with Daihatsu.
Daihatsu, specialising in small cars and trucks popular in Japan, is a unit of Toyota.
Shipments to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia have been halted, comprising about 5 per cent of Toyota’s production in Asia. Toyota is collaborating with authorities to resume shipments.
This decision comes after a safety investigation uncovered issues in 64 models, including nearly two dozen sold under Toyota’s brand.
Japanese transport ministry officials conducted an inspection of Daihatsu.
Earlier this year, safety test irregularities prompted an independent panel investigation, exposing widespread and systematic problems at Osaka-based Daihatsu Motor Co. This incident adds to a series of safety or other violations found at least five of Japan’s major automakers in recent years.
Citing the panel’s results, Toyota Motor Corp. reported on Wednesday that the Daihatsu probe identified 174 new cases of irregularities in safety tests and other procedures across 25 test categories, in addition to previously reported issues.
Daihatsu president Soichiro Okudaira apologised, acknowledging the breach of trust with customers and characterising the safety testing and procedural lapses as a neglect of safety certificates.
“We are sorry to have betrayed the trust of our customers,” said Okudaira.
The problem surfaced in April with Daihatsu reporting improper testing on door linings, followed by issues in side collision testing in May, including data falsifications and the use of unauthorised testing procedures.
The investigation revealed problems in 64 models and three vehicle engines, affecting models sold by Toyota, Mazda Motor Corp., and Subaru Corp. in Japan, as well as Toyota and Daihatsu models sold internationally.
“We believe in order to prevent a recurrence, in addition to a review of certification operations, a fundamental reform is needed to revitalise Daihatsu as a company,” Toyota said in a statement.
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