The Japanese transport ministry uncovered anomalies in applications to certify specific models, leading Toyota Motor and Mazda to both holding up some vehicle shipments as the safety test crisis at the Japanese manufacturers spread on Monday.
According to the ministry, applications from Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha Motor also had the anomalies. It was discovered that the automakers had rigged or submitted inaccurate test results when they asked to have the cars certified.
The ministry directed Yamaha, Mazda, and Toyota to stop shipping certain automobiles. It stated that an on-site inspection will be conducted at Toyota’s central Aichi prefecture headquarters on Tuesday.
Following a safety test controversy at Toyota’s Daihatsu compact car subsidiary that surfaced last year, the ministry asked automakers to look into certification applications in late January. This led to the most recent revelations.
The events of Monday are also expected to increase anticipation for Toyota’s annual general meeting later in the month. It has been urged by prominent proxy consulting firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis that shareholders abstain from voting during the meeting to re-elect Akio Toyoda as chairman.
ISS called attention to the “spate of certification irregularities” at the Toyota Group in a report to shareholders.
“As the person in charge of the Toyota Group, I would like to sincerely apologise to our customers, to car fans, and to all stakeholders for this,” said former CEO and founder’s grandson and its former chief executive, Akio Toyoda.
He claimed that before being sold, the cars were not properly certified. The largest carmaker in the world by volume said that it has temporarily stopped selling and shipping three Japanese-manufactured automobile models.
Though investors and executives have praised the government for its business reforms, the scandals at the automakers are proving to be a sore point. The chief government spokesperson for Japan, Yoshimasa Hayashi, described the conduct as “regrettable”.
According to Toyota, there was misconduct during six distinct tests carried out in 2014, 2015, and 2020. Three production models—the Corolla Fielder, Axio, and Yaris Cross—as well as ended models of four well-liked models—one of which was offered under the premium Lexus brand—were among the affected cars.
One instance involved evaluating collision damage on one side of a model’s bonnet when it was necessary to measure it on both.
In other cases, it claimed that it carried out certain tests through development testing in environments that were stricter than the ministry’s guidelines and did not adhere to the demands of the government.
Toyota stated that it is working to wrap up its investigation into car emissions and fuel economy by the end of June.
It further stated that users did not have to cease using their vehicles and that there were no performance difficulties that broke any rules.
On Thursday of last week, Mazda announced that the Roadster RF sports vehicle and the Mazda2 hatchback were no longer being shipped after it was discovered that employees had altered engine control software test results.
Additionally, it discovered that during some frontal collision testing, the airbags of the out-of-production Atenza and Axela models had been manipulated by employing a timer to activate the airbags rather than an on-board sensor to detect a hit.
Yamaha announced that it had halted supplies of a sporting motorcycle.
