Toyota apologizes as Japanese car testing scandal widens – DW – 03/06/2024

Toyota Motor Corporation admitted Monday to cheating during various certification and safety tests of seven car models sold in Japan, three of which are still in production.

President Akio Toyoda apologized at a news conference in Tokyo, bowing low as usual.

HI’s comments were based on the findings of an internal Toyota study, launched as the Japanese government announced its own investigation earlier this year. This investigation is ongoing and concerns several automobile manufacturers.

“We’re not a perfect company. But if we see something wrong, we’ll step back and continue to try to correct it,” Toyoda said.

The issue does not affect Toyota’s non-Japanese market. However, it poses a severe test for Japanese automakers in their lucrative and symbolically important domestic market.

Only China and the United States currently make more cars than Japan, although China makes more cars than Japan and the United States combined these days.

What did Toyota’s investigation reveal and which cars were affected?

Toyota said in a statement that seven models were affected in total.

“The model certification applications in question involve inadequate data during pedestrian and occupant protection testing for three production models,” the Corolla Fielder – an estate version of the world’s most popular sedan, the Toyota Corolla, the Corolla Axio hybrid and the compact SUV called the Yaris Cross.

For four models discontinued in 2014 – the Crown, Isis, Sienta and an older version of the luxury Lexus RX – there were “errors in crash tests and other testing methods,” the company said.

However, Toyota also claimed that although the cars have not undergone proper certification and testing procedures, “we can confirm that there are no performance issues that contravene laws and regulations.” In other words, the company claims that the cars would have successfully passed all the required checks.

“There is therefore no need to stop using the affected vehicles,” Toyota said. “However, in light of these findings, we have taken action to temporarily suspend shipments and sales of three models currently produced in Japan, effective immediately.”

The company said it would continue to cooperate with Japanese investigators and “expedite appropriate measures, including carrying out tests in the presence of witnesses.”

“Once again, we sincerely apologize to our customers and stakeholders,” the statement concluded.

Honda and Mazda report similar problems but also say cars still meet regulations

Also on Monday, Mazda Motor Corp reported similar irregular certification tests for two models, the Roadster and Mazda 2. Like Toyota, it temporarily halted production of both. Three other discontinued models were also affected, the press release said.

Like Toyota, Mazda said none of the violations affected vehicle safety or performance.

Honda also apologized for inappropriate testing of issues such as noise levels and torque on a range of older models that are no longer in production. Again, all vehicles were compliant with the law, although they had not been thoroughly examined.

The first signs of certification problems began to emerge about two years ago at Toyota, its truck maker Hino Motors, Daihatsu Motor Co – which specializes in compact city cars particularly popular in Japan – and its auto machinery and parts subsidiary. , Toyota Industries Corporation.

Toyoda, the grandson of company founder Kichiro Toyoda, suggested that some Japanese certification rules might be too strict, highlighting how testing varies around the world. But he has also repeatedly said he does not tolerate violations.

He said the company may have been too eager to get models approved, at a time when Toyota was making a very wide selection of vehicles and was ending one generation of cars and launching the next.

Toyota sells more than 10 million cars worldwide each year, more than any individual company. Most of its manufacturing in Japan takes place in the giant city that bears the company’s name, near Nagoya, west of Tokyo.

msh/dj (AP, dpa)