AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)12/21 Report--

On December 20th, Daihatsu released a 162-page third-party investigation report. According to the investigation, in addition to the fake door accessories in April and the rod side collision test in May, 174 cases of fraud were found in 25 new test items, and 64 models and 3 engines were confirmed to be fraudulent, including those that have been discontinued.

It is worth mentioning that this survey affects not only Dafa Motor, but also Toyota Motor Company (hereinafter referred to as "Toyota"), Mazda Motor Company (hereinafter referred to as "Mazda"), Subaru Motor Company (hereinafter referred to as "Subaru"). According to the results of the investigation, Dafa Motor decided to suspend shipments of all Dafa developed models currently produced in Japan and overseas, and Toyota also decided to suspend shipments of these models.

In the final stage of the investigation, it was found that the airbag tests of Dafa Move/ Subaru Stella, Dafa Cast/ Toyota Pixis 喜悦, Dafa GranMax/ Toyota Town Ace/ Mazda Bongo did not use the same "airbag deployment computer (ECU)" as mass-produced products. Although it has been technically verified that there is no problem with the occupant protection performance of the airbag, it is also found that the "occupant rescue (door unlocking) related safety performance" in the side collision test of Cast/Pixis 喜悦 may not comply with the law. At present, any accident related to this incident has not occurred yet, but absolutely necessary measures are taken to avoid it.

In April, Dafa admitted that four models developed in overseas markets-Toyota Yaris Ativ, Perodua Axia, Toyota Agya and an undisclosed product-had been falsified in crash tests. The model was mainly sold to international markets such as Thailand, Mexico, Ecuador and the Middle East, with a total of 88123 sold.

It is understood that the four models carried out additional "modification" before the crash test, and the front door lining area of the vehicle was deliberately modified into a notch with grooves. In the side collision, after such modification, the vehicle may be more conducive to the deployment of the side airbag, and at the same time avoid the modification of some structures in the front door lining area, which may cause damage to the occupants. In short, it is to make its four test cars to minimize the risk of collision testing.

The next month, Dafa once again admitted to fraud, and its two hybrid models violated the rules in the side collision test. They should have submitted the test data of the driver's seat and the passenger seat respectively, but actually submitted the data of the passenger seat as the data of the driver's seat to the Ministry of Land and Transport of Japan, while Daihatsu did not do a collision test on the side of the driver's seat. The two hybrid models involved, the Daihatsu Rocky and the Toyota Raize, will be sold to the Japanese market in November 2011. one of them is made by Toyota, with a cumulative sales of 22329 units by May 18, 2023 and 56111 units by the latter, a total of 78440 units.

Dafa Motor said in the announcement that 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.

It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time the Toyota Group has been caught in a fraud scandal. In March 2022, Hino Motor, a subsidiary of Toyota Group, admitted to the outside world that engine data had been falsified for 20 years. Hino's irregularities include violations related to engine emissions, violations related to fuel consumption data, and false reports submitted by Hino when Japan's Ministry of Land and Transport investigated emissions and fuel consumption data in 2016. Among them, Hino's emission violations began at least in 2003, much earlier than Hino announced in 2016.

In recent years, counterfeiting incidents frequently exposed in Japanese industry not only affect the trust and interests between enterprises, but also pose a threat to the safety of consumers. The "craftsman spirit" of Japanese manufacturing industry is also called "craftsman spirit" by netizens. Although every time Japanese executives use 90 °bows to express their greatest apologies, frequent bows seem to have failed to restore the brand image.

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