Japanese Ministry of Transport officials have visited the headquarters of Toyota Motor as part of an investigation into the company’s official safety certifications. The probe comes after Toyota’s chairman, Akio Toyoda, issued a public apology for cheating on tests for seven of its models.
Officials from the Ministry descended on the offices in Toyota city just hours after Toyoda’s apology, in order to investigate irregularities in the company’s applications for safety certificates. As a result of the investigation, production of three Toyota models – the Corolla Fielder, Corolla Axio, and Yaris Cross – has been suspended.
The testing failures at Toyota were first brought to light in January and were found to involve a variety of tests, including collision tests, airbag inflation tests, and engine power tests. The company has stated that models built overseas are not affected. Toyota’s production facility in Derbyshire, which produces the Corolla Hatchback and Corolla Touring Sport for the European market, has not been implicated in the scandal.
In addition to Toyota, rival carmakers Mazda, Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha have also been caught up in the scandal. The Ministry of Transport has announced that their respective offices will also be visited as part of the investigation, which has caused concern within Japan’s automotive industry.
As the world’s largest carmaker by production, Toyota’s safety certification scandal has shaken confidence in the country’s sprawling automotive sector. Toyoda himself acknowledged the gravity of the situation at a news conference on Monday, stating, “We are not a perfect company but if we see anything wrong, we will take a step back and keep trying to correct it.”
The other four companies involved in the scandal have also reported similar irregularities in their certification testing. Mazda, for example, has halted production of two models, the Roadster and Mazda 2, due to incorrect engine control software being used in tests. The company also acknowledged violations in crash tests for three discontinued models. However, all companies involved have stated that the violations do not affect vehicle safety.
In light of the scandal, proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis have recommended that shareholders vote against re-electing Mr. Toyoda at Toyota’s upcoming annual general meeting. However, analysts believe that Toyoda, who is the grandson of Toyota’s founder, will likely survive the vote.
James Hong, head of mobility research at Macquarie, commented on the potential impact of the scandal on Toyota’s sales in the Japanese market, stating, “When it comes to actual sales in [the] Japan market, the damage will be manageable or quite small, because consumers basically have no alternatives in Japan.”
As the investigation continues, Sky News has approached Toyota UK for a statement. In other news, early vote counts in India’s election indicate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may not win a majority, and a shark attack victim who punched the shark in the face has been hailed as a hero. For more updates on these and other news stories, visit Sky News.