AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)01/17 Report--

On January 16, Japan's Ministry of Land and Transport issued an order to rectify the fraud of Dafa's automobile data. Japan's Ministry of Land and Transport said it would revoke the safety certification procedures for three Daihatsu cars. The affected models include Toyota TownAce, Mazda Bongo and Dafa Gran Max. At the same time, Saito Tetsuo, Japan's minister of land and transport, issued a rectification order to Soichiro Okudaira, president of Daihatsu Motor, requiring Daihatsu to take measures to prevent such incidents from happening again.

According to reports, Toyota issued a statement after Daihatsu received a rectification order from Japan's Ministry of Land, Transport and Transportation, saying that it will fully support Dafa's fundamental changes in corporate culture and management.

On December 20, 2023, Japan's Daihatsu released a 162-page third-party investigation report. According to the investigation, in addition to the fake door accessories in April and the rod side collision test in May, 174 cases of fraud were found in 25 new test items, and 64 models and 3 engines were confirmed to be fraudulent, including those that have been discontinued. Also affected by the survey are Toyota Motor Company (hereinafter referred to as "Toyota"), Mazda Motor Company (hereinafter referred to as "Mazda") and Subaru Motor Company (hereinafter referred to as "Subaru"). According to the results of the investigation, Dafa Motor decided to suspend shipments of all Dafa developed models produced in Japan and overseas, and Toyota also decided to suspend shipments of these models.

Then, on December 21, Japan's Ministry of Land and Transport carried out an incoming inspection on Dafa. According to the Asahi Shimbun, most of the models currently produced by Dafa Motors have the same problem after investigation by a third-party committee.

Japan's Daihatsu Industrial Co., Ltd. suspended production and operation of its plant in Japan from December 25, 2023 on suspicion of fraud in the safety test, and has not resumed production so far. It is understood that Dafa has four vehicle factories in the Japanese local market, with a cumulative annual output of more than 920000 vehicles in 2022. Japanese media reported that the impact of this incident, including direct suppliers and related enterprises, the number of enterprises affected by Dafa's suspension of production may reach more than 8000.

Earlier, a spokesman for Daihatsu, a Toyota subsidiary, said it would offer compensation to 423 domestic suppliers with which it has direct business relations as the company's Japanese plant continues to shut down because of a safety scandal.

It is estimated that Dafa could lose more than 100 billion yen ($700m) due to counterfeiting scandals and factory shutdowns. It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time Dafa has faked its data. As early as April 2023, Dafa admitted that four models (Toyota Yaris Ativ, Perodua Axia, Toyota Agya and an undisclosed product) developed in overseas markets had been falsified in crash tests, mainly sold to international markets such as Thailand, Mexico, Ecuador and the Middle East, with a total of 88123 vehicles sold. Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda personally bowed and apologized, saying it was a betrayal of customer trust and absolutely unacceptable.

According to public data, Daihatsu is one of the most popular light mini-car manufacturers in Japan. Founded in Osaka, Japan in 1907, it is a subsidiary of Toyota Motor, which mainly focuses on the manufacture of small cars. It accounts for about 4% of Toyota's global sales.

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