“We deeply regret that we did not carry out the certifications properly.” Japan asks Toyota for “drastic reforms” after finding more violations

Although Toyota remains a giant in terms of car manufacturing worldwide, it is not without its own Dieselgate. Last month it was made public that Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha are being investigated by the Japanese Ministry of Transport after Toyota raised the hare: all of them have admitted to having submitted erroneous or manipulated data when applying for vehicle homologation, including safety tests of their cars.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda has had to apologize, and now his job is on the line. And there’s more. Local regulators have identified new brands that violate regulations, forcing the automaker to suspend more shipments.

A pretty bleak outlook

As detailed Autonews Europethe new findings came after Japanese ministry inspectors conducted on-site investigations at Toyota facilities and discovered additional instances where the company failed to properly certify vehicles. They affect its truck manufacturing unit Hinoits minicar subsidiary Daihatsu and an engine and parts supplier called Toyota Industries Corp.

The malpractice forced Toyota to suspend deliveries in June of three affected vehicles that are still in production: the Corolla Fielder, the Corolla Axio and the Yaris Cross. Toyota Spain has clarified that There is no affected model in our countryas the investigation affects Yaris Cross models manufactured in Japan for sale in markets outside the EU

Following the latest findings, the production of vans will be added. Voxy and Noah and the shutdown is estimated to have caused a 13% drop in global production in June. Other vehicles that experienced incorrect certification included the Lexus RX in 2015, the RAV4 in 2017, the Camry in 2017, the Toyota Harrier crossover in 2022 and the Lexus LM van last year.

The government is urging the company to make “drastic reforms”, while Toyota continues to apologize and claims that the reasons are due to negligence and lack of involvement from management: “We deeply regret not having been able to carry out our certification operations properly,” it said. A situation that has caused the company’s shareholders to lose confidence in Toyoda, who may step down as director next year.