Japan government wants Daihatsu to fix its issues

The Japanese government has cracked down on Toyota’s subsidiary Daihatsu over the procedural irregularities it has committed on its multiple models.

As early as December, reports from Japan saw government officials raid the Daihatsu headquarters over the ongoing safety scandal.

The most recent development sees Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism issue a rectification order to Daihatsu, urging the company to fundamentally rework its corporate structure and provide measures to prevent the recurrence of such issues. The Japanese government expects Daihatsu to file a report within the next month on the issues concerning the rectification order.

According to a report by Nikkei Asia, corrective orders of this type will require Daihatsu to regularly submit reports and plans to fix its production process, along with ensuing fines. And when worse comes to worse, Daihatsu could even have government certifications revoked on its models. If this happens, this will bar Daihatsu from doing large-scale production of the affected products. Getting back the certification will also require more stringent tests that will take a longer period of time.

Japan’s transport ministry considers the safety irregularities committed by Daihatsu as an egregious neglect of safety, which greatly affects the trust of consumers when it comes to Japanese quality. Apart from the side collision and door lining test irregularities, the automaker was also found to use timers to activate airbags during testing, rather than relying on the sensors for the airbag to activate in the event of a collision. Quite simply, an airbag that fails to work when needed could definitely put lives at greater risk.

Meanwhile, in a separate release, the Toyota Motor Corporation issued a statement, saying the company will fully support Daihatsu not only in reviewing its certification operations but also in making fundamental changes in its corporate culture and management so that Daihatsu can once again be trusted and chosen as a company of choice.

As of now, all Daihatsu domestic plants in Japan have not resumed their operations.