Toyota Motor Company announced that it will suspend shipments of certain models, including the Hilux truck and the Land Cruiser 300 four-wheel drive, after discovering violations in the accreditation tests for diesel engines developed by its subsidiary, Toyota Industries.
A special investigation committee found violations during the power horsepower test for three diesel engine models.
Toyota stated that ten models worldwide use the affected engines, including the Hiace van, the Fortuner SUV, the Innova multi-purpose vehicle, and the Lexus LX500D SUV.
Toyota, the world’s largest car manufacturing company in terms of sales, separately seeks to resolve the misconduct related to forged crash safety tests at its subsidiary, Daihatsu, specializing in small cars.
The company stated that it aims to accurately explain the matter to authorities and will take actions such as conducting accreditation tests for the new engine in the presence of regulatory bodies as needed.
Koichi Ito, the president of Toyota Industries, said in a press conference that there was a lack of communication with Toyota Motor and insufficient coordination regarding testing operations and procedures that should have been followed.
Toyota Industries stated that it sold approximately 84,000 diesel engines for affected vehicles during the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2023. Koji Sato, the CEO of Toyota, later told journalists, “The company uses 36,000 units of the affected engine models worldwide each month, equivalent to 432,000 units annually.”
A Toyota spokesperson was unable to specify the number of affected vehicles sold by the car manufacturing company over the years. In Japan, the shipping halt affected production on six lines in four factories. The company stated, “It has confirmed that the affected engines and vehicles meet engine performance standards.” The investigation found that the electronic control units used during horsepower testing were different from those used during engine production.
The Japanese Ministry of Transport announced that it will conduct a field investigation on Tuesday at Hikinan factory, which is owned by Toyota Industries and located in Aichi prefecture in central Japan.
The company manufactures car and industrial engines. Initially, Toyota’s investigation focused on certification regulations related to emissions performance for forklift engines and construction machinery, as the special investigation committee also confirmed violations.
Toyota owns approximately 25% of Toyota Industries, which is one of the main companies in the Toyota Group. In turn, the supplier owns about 8% of Toyota’s own shares. Shares of “Toyota Industries” fell into negative territory shortly after the news and closed down by 4%. Toyota Motor’s shares closed up by 3.1%. (Reuters)
