'Toyota Subsidiary Daihatsu Halts Operations at All Factories Due to "Fraudulent Certification"'

Daihatsu Motor, which has become the center of controversy for obtaining certification using fraudulent data without properly conducting crash tests to verify the safety of new vehicles, has halted the shipment of all cars and decided to suspend operations at all its factories in Japan starting next week.

Okudaira Soichiro, CEO of Daichasu (center), and other executives are apologizing at a press conference held on the 30th.
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

According to NHK on the 21st, Daihatsu, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, will stop operations at three factories located in Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures in western Honshu, and Oita Prefecture in Kyushu from the 25th. Additionally, the factory located in Ikeda City, Osaka Prefecture, will cease production from the 26th.

Since Daihatsu is currently under investigation by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, it is difficult to predict when factory operations will resume. The Ministry is reported to be continuing its investigation after the 22nd and is also considering administrative actions such as revoking certifications depending on the results.

When it was revealed that Daihatsu obtained government certification through fraudulent data without conducting crash tests to verify new vehicle safety, the company conducted an additional investigation and announced the previous day that a total of 174 cases of fraud had been confirmed through this investigation.