Toyota Motor’s Daihatsu unit announced on Wednesday that it will suspend shipments of all vehicles, both internationally and domestically, following an investigation into a safety scandal that uncovered issues in approximately 64 models, including 22 sold under the Toyota brand.
An independent panel has been examining Daihatsu since April, after the company revealed that it had falsified side-collision safety tests for 88,000 small cars, most of which were sold under the Toyota brand.
The new findings indicate that the scandal’s extent is much broader than initially believed and could significantly damage the automakers’ reputation for quality and safety.
Toyota stated that “fundamental reform” is necessary to rejuvenate Daihatsu, along with a thorough review of certification processes.
“This will be an extremely significant task that cannot be accomplished overnight,” the company said. “It will require not only a review of management and business operations but also an examination of the organization and structure.”
The Asahi newspaper previously reported that Daihatsu was found to have manipulated safety tests on nearly all models currently in production, as well as some older vehicles.
In April, Daihatsu disclosed that it had discovered the erroneous tests following a whistleblower report and had notified regulatory agencies while halting shipments of the affected models.
The following month, Daihatsu announced it had ceased sales of the Toyota Raize hybrid electric vehicle and its own Rocky model after identifying testing issues with these two vehicles as well.
Over the first ten months of the year, Daihatsu produced 1.1 million vehicles, with nearly 40% of production occurring at overseas sites, according to Toyota data.
The company sold about 660,000 vehicles worldwide during this period, representing 7% of Toyota’s total sales.
