Daihatsu safety scandal report to affect Toyota, Perodua models in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: In April of this year, Toyota’s subsidiary Daihatsu highlighted a procedural irregularity in the testing of its vehicles and admitted "wrongdoings" in crash safety tests. Since then, an Independent Third-Party Committee (chaired by Makoto Kaiami) has been investigating the scandal, which has now found issues with 64 models, including those sold under Toyota's brand.

As a result, the automaker has suspended shipments of all its models currently in production, both in Japan and overseas. Toyota has also decided to temporarily suspend shipments of the affected models.

The investigation found new irregularities in 174 items within 25 test categories, in addition to the door lining irregularity in April and the side collision test irregularity in May. It affects a total of 64 models and three engines, ranging from vehicles currently in production or development to those that have been discontinued. The affected models include the ones sold under the Daihatsu brand and those supplied on an OEM basis to Toyota, Mazda, Subaru, and Perodua. 

The affected Perodua cars include - Axia,  Alza, Aruz, Ativa, Myvi, and Bezza. The affected Toyota models relevant to Malaysia are the Vios, Rush, and Veloz.

According to the report of the committee, the root cause of the scandal was “a management problem that promoted short-term development without taking measures to deal with the fraud.”

Recommendations from the committee to prevent recurrence include actions such as "senior management expressing regret to employees and affirming their commitment to addressing the situation" and a "scrutiny of development and certification processes within rigid 'short-term developments.'"

“We deeply apologise for betraying the trust of our customers and other stakeholders, and for causing them great inconvenience and concern,” said Daihatsu.

“We would like to express our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and concern this has caused to all stakeholders, including customers. We recognize the extreme gravity of the fact that Daihatsu's neglect of the certification process has shaken the very foundations of the company as an automobile manufacturer” said Toyota.

Responding to this issue, Perodua president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Ahmad said, "We are doing a detailed assessment on the matter and are currently in discussion with Malaysian authorities as to the impact of this development on our vehicles. We will share the outcome of this discussion with the public in due course."

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