AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/30 Report--

Dafa Motor Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor, issued a notice on April 28, saying that the front door lining (Door Trim) of four models of the company had been improperly modified in the side crash test, violating the testing procedures and methods stipulated in the regulations. The door linings of these models have been modified to have notches to minimize test risk. This modification prevents passengers from being harmed by sharp edges inside the door when the side airbag is unfolded in an accident.

It is understood that the models involved are the new 2023 Perodua Axia, Toyota Vios (known as Yaris Ativ in Thailand), Toyota Agya, and a new car that has not yet been launched since August 2022. At present, a total of nearly 90000 of these four models have been sold in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Mexico.

Dafa said in the announcement: in April, the company received reports from insiders about this behavior, and the company conducted a preliminary investigation, interviewed the competent authorities suspected of violating the law, and checked the design changes and test results of the vehicles involved and in the process of development. finally, it is confirmed that the lining of the front seat doors of these vehicles has been improperly modified, violating the side collision testing procedures and methods stipulated in the regulations. After discovering improper behavior, Dafa immediately reported and consulted to the inspection and certification body, and suspended shipments after discussion with Toyota. In addition to the internal investigation committee, Dafa said it had set up an independent third-party committee to clarify the details of the matter, analyze the root causes, and formulate measures to prevent recurrence accordingly.

In response to the incident, Dafa said: "I apologize for betraying the trust of customers and other stakeholders and causing great inconvenience and concern." The sale of these vehicles has been stopped and immediately reported to the inspection and certification authority that the vehicles will be retested in the presence of the inspection and certification authority after the parts have been replaced and that shipments will resume after confirming that the side collision performance complies with the regulations.

Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda also apologized, saying: Dafa's misconduct involves safety issues, which is the most important aspect of the vehicle. We believe that this is a betrayal of customer trust and is absolutely unacceptable. Since this happened to Toyota-branded passenger cars, the problem is not limited to Dafa Motors. The company will start with a detailed investigation and a comprehensive collection of facts to understand the situation, determine the real cause, and strive to prevent recurrence. At the same time, it also said that it will do its best to regain the trust of customers as soon as possible.

Relevant data show that Dafa Automobile, the full name of Dafa Industrial Co., Ltd., was founded in 1907. The main scope of business is the expansion of the field of small cars, such as engine, space, vehicle safety and environmental protection. In November 1967, we signed business cooperation with Toyota self-Industry Co., Ltd., Toyota self-Vendor Co., Ltd. In 1998 and 2016, Toyota acquired all shares in Dafa Motor, which is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time Toyota has been caught up in a fraud scandal. In October 2020, Japan Junsheng Safety Systems Co., Ltd., the largest supplier of automobile seat belts in Japan, was exposed to "data tampering" on some seat belts that did not meet the strength test standards. Japan has more than 9 million seat belts that are not up to standard, involving about 2 million vehicles, including 10 Japanese car companies, including Toyota, Honda and Nissan, which all use the products provided by the company.

In February 2021, Japanese auto parts supplier dawning Brake Industry Co., Ltd., suppliers to Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi and other car companies, apologized to the public that about 114000 of the brake and parts products produced by the company's four local factories in Japan were tampered with or fabricated. Of these, about 5000 pieces did not meet the standard value agreed with the automaker. According to the time of dawning announcement, counterfeiting has been affected for as long as 20 years, including 10 Japanese car companies, including Toyota and Nissan.

In March last year, Hino Motor, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Group, admitted to the outside world that engine data had been falsified for nearly 20 years. In August of the same year, Hino Motor announced on its website that the engine of one of its light trucks did not meet the emission test requirements, so it will suspend delivery of the Dutro series of small trucks. In September of the same year, Hino issued an apology for data fraud and said it would recall the vehicles involved. Affected by the counterfeiting incident, Hino Motors completely stopped the production of related models for the Japanese domestic market, and the suspension may last until next summer. At that time, on the issue that production could be resumed when it was announced, the person in charge of Hino Motor said: it is not clear when production can be resumed at present.

In fact, in recent years, news about Japanese corporate fraud has been common, and the "craftsman spirit" of Japanese manufacturing industry has also been called "craftsman spirit" by netizens. In this regard, some people in the industry said: this situation is largely due to Japan's domestic economic depression and fierce external competition, resulting in a further compression of the market share and profits of Japan's local manufacturing industry. in order to maintain their market competitiveness, some enterprises choose extreme ways such as "fraud" to deceive the market and consumers. In addition, many large enterprises in Japan are managed by professional managers rather than family founders or heirs, so many professional managers will first pay attention to good-looking financial data rather than everlasting business.

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