Japanese automaker Daihatsu announced Wednesday the recall of 322,700 vehicles and the extension of the suspension of its production at three sites in Japan as part of a vast scandal of rigged safety tests revealed in December.
The manufacturer, a subsidiary of the giant Toyota, has informed the Japanese Ministry of Transport of the recall of vehicles of two types of models due to a defect in the doors.
Daihatsu also indicated that the interruption of production in three of its four factories in Japan, decided at the end of December, would be extended until February 16.
A restart is planned for the Kyoto site.
The manufacturer had also decided to suspend all of its shipments to Japan and abroad.
The Japanese Ministry of Transport launched an inspection in December at the headquarters of Daihatsu, a specialist in mini-vehicles very popular in Japan called "kei cars", after an independent report which highlighted numerous irregularities in its safety certification processes.
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Falsification of crash test results
The experts' report highlighted deep-rooted failures in Daihatsu's production processes, identifying 174 irregularities across 25 test categories, some dating back to 1989. In total, 64 vehicle models (old or current) are affected, including models manufactured on behalf of Japanese manufacturers Toyota, Mazda and Subaru.
The case began in April 2023. Daihatsu then admitted to falsification of crash test results on four of its models, involving a total of 88,000 vehicles manufactured in Thailand and Malaysia in 2022 and 2023. Daihatsu produced more of 1.7 million vehicles worldwide for the 2022/23 financial year ended at the end of last March, approximately half of which in Japan.
It makes most of its sales in the archipelago and in South-East Asia.
Founded in 1907 to manufacture internal combustion engines, the manufacturer based in Osaka (western Japan) launched its first three-wheeled vehicle in 1931.
Since 1967, it has been under the control of Toyota, which owns it 100%.
The world number one automobile company apologized again last week for this scandal.