Toyota Motor’s headquarters were visited in Japan as part of an investigation into official safety certifications that are affecting models from the country’s top five automakers.
Hours after Toyota’s president issued an apology for cheating in testing seven models, officials from Japan’s Ministry of Transport stormed the offices in Toyota city to investigate irregularities in security certificate applications.
Production of three Toyota models in Japan – the Corolla Fielder, the Corolla Axio and the Yaris Cross – has been suspended.
Latest Money:
‘I left a well-paid job whilst seven months pregnant after men said I didn’t understand – now I’m CEO’
Toyota’s testing flaws, first revealed in January, were wide-ranging and involved crash tests, airbag inflation tests and rear seat damage in crashes.
Engine power tests were also falsified.
The company insisted that models built abroad will not be affected.
Toyota has a production facility in Derbyshire that manufactures the Corolla Hatchback and Corolla Touring Sport for the European market.
Sky News has approached Toyota UK for a statement.
Rivals Mazda, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha are also involved in the scandal.
Ministry of Transport officials enter Toyota Motor headquarters on Tuesday. Photo: AP
A Transport Ministry spokesperson said their respective offices would also be visited as part of the investigation, shaking confidence in the country’s growing automotive sector.
Toyota is the world’s largest car manufacturer by production. It flagged concerns about its own safety procedures after finding flaws in the certification processes of its truck division Hino Motors and Daihatsu two years ago.
The group’s president, Akio Toyoda, said at a press conference on Monday: “We sincerely apologize.”
Toyota President Akio Toyoda bows in apology during a press conference on Monday. Photo: AP
He added: “We’re not a perfect company, but if we see something wrong, we’ll take a step back and keep trying to fix it.
The other four companies reported similar irregular certification tests.
Also on Monday, Mazda halted production of two models, the Roadster and the Mazda 2.
He said incorrect engine control software was used in the tests.
Mazda also acknowledged crash test violations in three discontinued models.
None of the violations raised in the scandal affect vehicle safety, according to the companies.
Commenting on the fallout, James Hong, head of mobility research at Macquarie, said: “When it comes to actual sales in the Japanese market, the damage will be manageable or very small, because consumers basically have no alternatives in Japan.”
Proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis have recommended that shareholders vote against Toyoda’s re-election at Toyota’s next annual general meeting.
Analysts said they expected Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder, to survive the vote.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
