Toyota, the world's largest automaker, takes a hit as it recalls over a million cars and a subsidiary reveals faked data stretching back to 1989
Toyota did not have a good Wednesday. The carmaker first halted all worldwide shipments from Daihatsu, one of its subsidiaries, over an investigation related to safety. The company also had to recall 1 million vehicles in the U.S. due to problems with its cars’ airbags.
Daihatsu admitted in April that it rigged side-collision safety tests for vehicles mostly sent to Toyota. That revelation led to an independent third-party investigation, which uncovered 174 safety irregularities in 64 models, including those delivered to Toyota, Mazda and Subaru. On Wednesday, Daihatsu halted sales of all Dahaitsu-developed models currently in production, both in Japan and globally.
The report found irregularities reaching as far back as 1989, yet noted an increase in the number of problems from 2014 onwards. Problems included falsified test results and manipulated data, which the report blamed on “tight and rigid development schedules.”
On Thursday, Japan’s transport ministry raided Daihatsu’s headquarters in Osaka, after the company confirmed to the ministry that it had uncovered falsified data.
Daihatsu’s history can be traced back to the early 1900s. The company started producing cars for other brands in 1969, when it started manufacturing vehicles for Toyota. It has since expanded to producing cars for other companies like Subaru, and generally sells smaller vehicles for the Japanese market, as well as markets in Southeast Asia and Latin America.
In a statement released Wednesday, Toyota said that it had increased the number of OEM vehicles sourced from manufacturers like Daihatsu, and admitted that may have put pressure on its subsidiary. Toyota said it was “not aware of the situation with the company’s certification operations.” The Japanese automaker promised to revitalize Daihatsu, yet warned the process would take time.
Toyota is the world’s top automaker by vehicles sold, selling 10.5 million vehicles in 2022, far ahead of the 8.3 million sold by the Volkswagen Group. Daihatsu and Hino Motors, another Toyota subsidiary, manufactured 909,000 vehicles sold by Toyota.
Hino has also gotten into trouble. Last year, the subsidiary, which make trucks and buses, admitted to falsifying emissions data on some engines dating back to 2003. That scandal affected more than 640,000 vehicles and also led to a halt in production.
Faulty airbags
Also on Wednesday, Toyota announced a recall of 1 million cars in the U.S., covering Toyota and Lexus models from 2020 to 2022. According to Toyota’s statement, sensors in the front passenger seat may not be able to properly assess a passenger’s weight, resulting in the airbag not deploying as designed in some circumstances.
Toyota will inform affected customers by February, the company said.
This isn’t Toyota’s first problem with airbags. In 2014, Toyota joined several other automakers in issuing a worldwide recall of millions of cars due to problems with airbags manufactured by Takata. One report estimated that carmakers had recalled 42 million cars in the U.S. alone by the end of 2022. The airbags, which sometimes exploded with enough force to send shrapnel into passenger compartments, are linked to over 30 deaths and hundreds of injuries worldwide. Companies are still recalling cars today.
Then, in January 2020, Toyota recalled 3.4 million vehicles globally, due to an electronic fault that prevented airbags from deploying.
Toyota shares fell 4% in Tokyo trading on Thursday, following news of the recall and Daihatsu’s falsified data.
