AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)06/03 Report--

On June 3, Japan's Ministry of Land and Transport announced that Toyota, Honda, Yamaha, Mazda and Suzuki had reported fraud in their model designation applications. The report pointed out that in view of a spate of violations by companies such as Daihatsu in the process of obtaining model certification for mass production of cars and engines, Japan's Ministry of Land and Transport instructed a total of 85 automobile production companies to investigate whether there was a similar situation. By the end of May, Toyota, Mazda, Yamaha engine, Honda Technology Research Industry and Suzuki had committed fraud in vehicle performance testing.

Among them, Toyota Motor Company submitted false data in the pedestrian protection test of three existing vehicles, and fraudulently dealt with the test car during the collision test of four vehicles produced in the past; Mazda Motor Company rewrote the engine control software in the output test of two vehicles currently produced, and fraudulently dealt with the test vehicles in the collision test of three vehicles produced in the past. In the noise test, Yamaha engine Co., Ltd. carried out the currently produced vehicles under inappropriate test conditions, and at the same time made false statements in the test reports of two cars produced in the past; Honda Motor Co., Ltd. made false statements in the noise test reports of 22 models produced in the past; Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. made a false statement on the test results of the braking device of a model produced in the past.

In response to the fraud, Japan's Ministry of Land and Transport said it had instructed Toyota, Mazda and Yamaha engines and other companies to suspend shipments of some cars and motorcycles in production and asked them to give details to consumers. In the future, it will be dealt with seriously based on relevant laws and regulations in combination with on-site inspection and relevant results.

Toyota announced today that according to the results of the investigation, we have decided to suspend shipments and sales of three models currently produced in Japan (Corolla Fielder/Axio and Yaris Cross) from now on. Under the guidance of the Ministry of Land and Transport, we will quickly take appropriate measures such as witness questioning.

In recent years, Japanese manufacturing quality scandals emerge one after another, involving many fields such as automobile, iron and steel, chemical industry, and so on. Taking Toyota Motor as an example, its subsidiaries Hino Motor and Daihatsu Industries have exposed violations in product testing since the year before last, which once again has a negative impact on Toyota's brand image.

In April 2023, Dafa Automobile issued a notice admitting that the front seat door lining of its four models was improperly modified in the side collision test, violating the testing procedures and methods stipulated in the regulations, and the door lining of these models was modified to have notches to minimize the test risk. this modification can avoid when the side airbag is unfolded in the accident. There may be sharp edges inside the door to cause damage to passengers. At that time, Dafa Motor said it had stopped selling these vehicles and immediately reported to the inspection and certification authorities. At the same time, Dafa will resume shipments after replacing parts and retesting in the presence of inspection and certification bodies to confirm that the side impact performance is in line with the regulations.

In December 2023, Dafa issued a statement acknowledging once again that 174 violations were found in the latest investigation, involving vehicles manufactured by Toyota and Mazda. It is understood that these violations include falsifying safety collision test data, and the company immediately suspended shipments of all models under production at home and abroad. It is reported that the models involved in fraud include Toyota Yaris Ativ, Perodua Axia, Toyota Agya and an undisclosed product, with total sales of more than 88000 vehicles.

Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said that the group will start with a detailed investigation and comprehensive collection of facts, strive to prevent such incidents from happening again, and disclose the results of the investigation to the public in a timely manner. To that end, Dafa suspended production in Japan until the end of January and is assessing the impact of the shutdown on its vast supplier network.

In January of this year, Dafa Motor was issued a rectification order by Japan's Ministry of Land, Transport and revoked the production license of three Dafa models because of frequent suspected testing and fraud. At the same time, Dafa is required to take measures to prevent such incidents from happening again. To this end, Dafa President Aoping Ichiro resigned in February, and Dafa Chairman Matsuki Chun stepped down in March.

On April 8, Toyota announced that in order to put an end to the certification test safety scandal, Toyota will be responsible for the whole process of small cars from development to certification, and then entrust Dafa to take charge of the actual development work. This change will be carried out in turn from future models. In addition, Toyota will reform Dafa's business structure. Dafa will position itself as a "mini-car-centric travel company", while the emerging Market Compact Automobile Company, an organization that spans Toyota and Dafa, will be disbanded. Product planning functions will also be transferred to Toyota Compact Motor Company, and business and product management functions will be transferred to Toyota's business and sales departments.

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