The scandal over the falsifications of safety tests by the Daihatsu car manufacturer, a subsidiary of Toyota, is weighing on Japanese industrial production, which has recorded the largest decline since May 2020, since the Coronavirus.
In the first month of the year, output fell by 7.5% compared to December, with a sharp decline of 17.8% in the automotive industry.
The Japanese Ministry of Industry has revised its assessment of the production cycle downwards for the first time in six months, stating that industrial production "continues to show signs of weakness after the phase of instability recorded in December".
In January, the first Japanese car manufacturer decided to suspend shipments of some models after having found irregularities in the certification tests of diesel engines developed by its subsidiary Toyota Industries, as well as its subsidiary Daihatsu, which stopped production in its domestic factories for the whole month.
A gradual resumption of activities is expected next Monday after the green light from the Ministry of Transport - which had previously lifted the shipping ban.
According to the traditional government survey of manufacturing companies, production is expected to expand by 4.8% in February, and an increase of 2% in March.
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