Daihatsu suspends all domestic production amid safety scandal

Naoki Otsuka / The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP.

Naoki Otsuka / The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP.

Published Jan 3, 2024

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Japanese carmaker Daihatsu suspended all its domestic production in late December as the Toyota-owned company faced a massive safety testing scandal.

The firm, which has about 9,000 factory workers in Japan, closed the last of its four domestic plants, a Daihatsu spokesman told AFP.

"Production will be suspended through January. We have not been able to assess as to exactly when our domestic production can resume," the spokesman said.

The move could affect more than 8,000 companies across the country, according to a private research firm.

In December, the company said it had been manipulating safety tests since at least 1989, affecting 64 models, including some sold under the Toyota brand which also are being suspended.

In April it said it had been falsifying crash test results for four of its models, involving a total of 88,000 vehicles made in Thailand and Malaysia in 2022 and 2023.

In May, it announced it was halting production in Japan of two hybrid vehicle models because of similar "irregularities", including the Toyota Raize SUV, manufactured on behalf of its parent company.

Founded in 1907 to manufacture internal combustion engines, Osaka-based Daihatsu launched its first three-wheeled vehicle in 1931, before being taken over by Toyota in 1967.

Daihatsu vehicles were sold in South Africa by Imperial until the importer pulled out of our market in 2015. Certain Toyota models such as the Rush and Avanza are built by Daihatsu although these models have been replaced in recent years by Suzuki-built products sourced from India.

Agence France-Presse