An investigation found problems with 64 models, including nearly two dozen sold under the Toyota brand, Japan’s industry leader said on Wednesday. Toyota said a “fundamental reform” was needed to “revive” Daihatsu and a review of all certification processes.
“This will be an extremely important task that cannot be done overnight,” Toyota said. “It will require not only a review of management and business operations, but also a review of the organization and structure.”
An independent panel launched an investigation into Daihatsu following it was revealed in April that 88,000 small cars had tampered with side-impact safety tests. Most vehicles were sold as Toyotas. However, recent investigations suggest that the scale of the scandal is far greater than previously thought.
Daihatsu is Toyota’s small car division and produces a range of the so-called “kei” small cars and trucks popular in Japan. The investigative panel noted that the recent problems also affected some Mazda and Subaru models sold in the domestic market, as well as Toyota and Daihatsu models sold abroad. Toyota said the affected models were intended for the Southeast Asian markets of Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as for the Central and South American countries of Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Uruguay.
According to Toyota, Daihatsu produced 1.1 million vehicles in the first ten months of the year, almost 40 percent of them at foreign locations. During this period, around 660,000 vehicles were sold worldwide, accounting for seven percent of Toyota sales.
