The Japanese Ministry of Transportation plans to cancel certification for Daihatsu to produce three car models due to ongoing misconduct in the company’s product testing. This action was discovered in December 2023. As a result, Daihatsu will temporarily stop producing these three car models until it regains certification.
During a press conference on January 16, 2024, Mr. Tetsuo Saito, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, announced that the Ministry has initiated the process of revoking certification for Daihatsu’s three car models: Gran Max, Toyota TownAce, and Mazda Bongo. While Toyota TownAce and Mazda Bongo are produced by Daihatsu and supplied to the other two brands, the ministry will conduct a hearing with Daihatsu on January 23, 2024, before revoking the certification.
Daihatsu Gran Max
Additionally, the ministry plans to issue an order under the Road Transport Vehicle Act on January 16, 2024, requiring Daihatsu to significantly restructure its organization.
Prior to manufacturing a new car model, automakers are required to obtain certification by providing sample cars for testing. Certification is only granted if the sample car passes the ministry’s safety requirements assessment.
Following the revocation of certification, each new car model will have to undergo a vehicle inspection. Mass production cannot occur until the certification is reinstated.
Recently, Daihatsu received the results of an investigation conducted by the Independent Commission on irregularities in their vehicle certification procedures. The investigation focused on 64 car models currently under development and production by Daihatsu.
In addition to the three aforementioned cars, many Toyota car models have also been affected by Daihatsu’s scandal, such as Wigo/Agya, Rush, Avanza, Veloz, Raize, Yaris/Vios, and Yaris Cross. The investigation revealed that Daihatsu’s misconduct began in 1989 with a now-discontinued car model. However, fraudulent practices became prevalent after 2014.
Since December 20, 2023, the Toyota subsidiary has halted car production due to the scandal involving test misconduct. According to estimates by Nikkei Asia, the Japanese car brand may face damages of over 100 billion yen (approximately 700 million USD) due to factory shutdowns and financial compensation to suppliers.
At present, Daihatsu has not yet announced when car assembly operations will resume in its Japanese plant. Previous information suggests that the plant may remain closed until the end of January this year. However, car production and distribution in Indonesia and Malaysia have already resumed.
In Vietnam, only one car model, the Avanza Premio, has been affected by Daihatsu’s scandal. On December 21, 2023, Toyota Vietnam announced the suspension of vehicle deliveries for the Avanza Premio with manual transmission. However, there will be no recall of these cars as the issues only pertain to emissions and fuel consumption testing, rather than safety testing.
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