Toyota Motor has been exposed to a counterfeiting scandal again.On December 20, local time in Japan, Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Daihatsu Motor"), president of Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Daihatsu Motor"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota, held a press conference in Tokyo, admitting that there were violations in the safety test of new cars, and at the same time announced that all models sold at home and abroad would be suspended, and Toyota had also stopped the shipment of some models.
In early trading on December 21, Toyota Motor Corp.'s stock price was up 56%, the biggest daily drop in 18 months.
The counterfeiting involved 64 models
According to public information, Daihatsu Motor is a sub-brand of Toyota Motor that focuses on the compact model market.
According to the data, Daihatsu Motor's global sales in 2022 exceeded 1.7 million units, accounting for more than 10% of the entire Toyota Group.
According to a document released on the official website of Daihatsu Motors, under the review and supervision of a third-party committee, 174 violations of Dafa were newly discovered. According to the announcement, 64 models and 3 engines were confirmed to be operating in violation of regulations. This includes 22 models and 1 engine from Toyota.
Prior to this, in April this year, Dafa Company was ** involved in the illegal operation of the car door trim, and in May, it was exposed to the illegal operation involving the side impact test of the car. At that time, Daihatsu Automobile announced that its four models were improperly modified in the front door lining of the vehicle in the side impact test, violating the test procedures and methods stipulated in the regulations, that is, making false in the crash test. Two of the four models have been sold in Southeast Asia and Mexico, with cumulative sales of more than 88,000 units, mainly under the Toyota brand.
Regarding the reasons for the illegal operation, the document released by Daihatsu Automobile on December 20 listed "the work schedule is too tight and rigid, causing great pressure", "the site is overly responsible, the management is not involved", "the management only focuses on short-term development, and turns a blind eye to the problem of violations", in addition, there is also a "self-centered" workplace atmosphere caused by the solidification of the position, "as long as I and the work I am responsible for are good, I am indifferent to others".
It is reported that Toyota is not the only one implicated in this incident. Since Daihatsu Motor also provides OEM and parts production services for other car companies, the suspension of car shipments may cause the production of many brands to be blocked, including Mazda, Subaru and other Japanese car companies.
Japan** investigates
Since 2022, Hino Motors, a subsidiary of Toyota Motors, and Toyota Industries, a subsidiary of Toyota Group, have successively exposed violations in product testing, which has had a negative impact on Toyota's brand image.
In response to Daihatsu's fraud, Toyota Motor said that in order to prevent such a thing from happening again, it is necessary to carry out a fundamental reform of Daihatsu Motor, which requires not only a review of management and business operations, but also a review of the organization and structure, as well as changes in human resource development and employee awareness.
It is reported that on December 21, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan has carried out an inspection of the company's headquarters in Ikeda City, Osaka Prefecture in accordance with the Road Transport Vehicle Law.
Third-party investigators said that Daihatsu's counterfeiting can be traced back to 1989 at the earliest, and has gradually become rampant since 2014.
At the same time as Daihatsu Motor exposed the fake news, Toyota Motor also announced a global recall of 1.12 million vehicles produced between 2020 and 2022, of which 1 million were sold in the U.S. market. It is reported that there is a problem with the airbag sensor of this batch of vehicles, which may cause the airbag to not be able to deploy if necessary.
*:*Times.