Toyota-owned automaker halts Japan production after admitting it tampered with safety tests for 30 years

By Michelle Toh, Hanako Montgomery and Francesca Annio, CNN
2 minute read
Published 3:57 AM EST, Wed December 27, 2023



Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Dec. 25, 2023, shows a Daihatsu Motor Co. factory in Oyamazaki in Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan. The small-car unit of Toyota Motor Corp. said the same day it will suspend production at all domestic factories until at least the end of January due to a safety testing scandal. (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images)

A Daihatsu Motor factory in Oyamazaki in Kyoto, Japan. The small-car unit of Toyota said it would suspend production at all domestic factories until at least the end of January due to a safety testing scandal.
Kyodo News/Getty Images

Hong Kong/Tokyo CNN — Daihatsu, the Japanese automaker owned by Toyota, has halted domestic production after admitting it forged the results of safety tests for its vehicles for more than 30 years. ... The brand, best known for manufacturing small passenger cars, has stopped output at all four of its Japanese factories as of Tuesday, including one at its headquarters in Osaka, a spokesperson told CNN.

The shutdown will last through at least the end of January, affecting roughly 9,000 employees who work in domestic production, according to the representative. ... The move comes as Daihatsu grapples with a deepening safety scandal that Toyota says “has shaken the very foundations of the company.”

Last week, Daihatsu announced an independent third-party committee had found evidence of tampering with safety tests on as many as 64 vehicle models, including those sold under the Toyota brand. ... As a result, Daihatsu said it would temporarily suspend all domestic and international vehicle shipments and consult with authorities on how to move forward.

The scandal is another blow to the automaker, which had admitted in April to violating standards on crash tests on more than 88,000 cars, mostly sold under the Toyota brand in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.

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