Last week, Toyota was dragged into a growing scandal after an investigation found that Daihatsu had manipulated collision safety data dating as far back as 1989. Daihatsu will suspend operations through January and compensate its partners for the losses they incur, it said this week.
Toyota suffered a different scandal last year with its other major subsidiary, Hino, over falsified emissions data.
It is not clear yet how much the latest scandal will cost, in terms of output, money and customer trust. Daihatsu supplies cars and parts to Mazda, Subaru and a number of other major brands.
Third-party investigators warned that numerous Toyota and Daihatsu cars will need to undergo safety inspections again to become certified properly, and that several models could be ordered off the road.
Japanese carmakers have been plagued by recalls of late.
More than 15 million cars have been recalled worldwide due to a faulty fuel pump supplied by Denso, according to data compiled by Kyodo News. This includes vehicles branded and sold by Toyota and Honda.
In July, Nissan recalled almost 1.4 million cars across the US, Europe and Japan due to several issues, including vehicles suddenly accelerating after exiting cruise control and a short circuit that can cause motors to stop while driving.
Nissan’s production rose 27 per cent year on year to 317,233 units in November, including an 83 per cent increase in China to more than 88,000. Global sales climbed 24 per cent.
Honda’s global production rose 27 per cent to 414,429, increasing most prominently in North America and China. Domestic sales rose 13 per cent to 58,263 units, it said on Wednesday.
Toyota also saw sales in China climb 17 per cent to 164,524 units, while production there rose 14 per cent.
Meanwhile, as BYD is set to overtake Tesla as the world’s bestselling EV maker, hybrids are becoming increasingly dominant in Japan. They are expected to overtake all other power trains, including combustion and diesel engines, in registered passenger vehicle sales by the end of the year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, and comprise more than half sometime in 2024.
Toyota said its hybrid sales rose 52 per cent in November, while battery EV sales increased by 227 per cent.