Tokyo
CNN
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Japanese officers descended on the headquarters of Toyota on Tuesday, after a security take a look at scandal at quite a few automakers within the nation widened this week.
The inspections at Toyota’s places of work in central Japan would proceed over the subsequent few days, Japan’s Ministry of Transport instructed CNN. It comes because the world’s greatest carmaker by gross sales grapples with rising issues over the certification of a few of its autos.
The ministry mentioned 5 automakers — Toyota (TM), Mazda, Honda (HMC), Suzuki and Yamaha — had submitted incorrect or manipulated security take a look at knowledge after they utilized for certification of the autos.
Toyota, Mazda and Yamaha have been ordered to droop shipments of some car fashions, together with the Corolla Fielder and Corolla Axio. All 5 corporations have been instructed to evaluation their security certification processes.
A probe already undertaken by Toyota had revealed that not less than seven of its fashions, a few of them discontinued, have been examined utilizing strategies that differed from authorities requirements, the corporate mentioned Monday in an announcement.
Toyota was trying into “insufficient knowledge in pedestrian and occupant safety exams” and “errors in crash exams,” it mentioned. The investigation is ongoing.
Toyota mentioned it had not violated security laws and prospects didn’t must cease utilizing their vehicles.
Koji Endo of SBI Securities mentioned that Japan’s certification exams are very stringent and far stricter than in different international locations.
“As for these security inspection requirements, this rule was created in 1951, so it’s fairly outdated and arduous to observe for a lot of automakers,” he mentioned.
“Now we have to recollect, Toyota has performed a whole lot of hundreds, if not hundreds of thousands of exams all through the previous 15 years. And of these exams, there have been solely issues about how three or 4 of these exams have been performed. That’s little or no,” Endo added.
Nonetheless, due to its place because the world’s prime carmaker, the scandal had develop into “an enormous drawback” for the corporate, he mentioned.
In a press convention Monday, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder and firm chairman, apologized for the issues.
“I intend to increase our efforts all through all the group and restore authority on web site to create a stable company tradition that makes ever-better vehicles,” he mentioned.
Operations at Toyota’s factories is not going to be halted in the course of the probe however manufacturing will pause for the three fashions below investigation, the Transport Ministry mentioned.
It mentioned officers would additionally examine the amenities of the opposite 4 carmakers however didn’t say when these visits would happen.
In January, Toyota announced it will droop shipments of sure fashions after discovering irregularities in certification exams for diesel engines developed by its affiliate, Toyota Industries.
The revelations got here only a month after Daihatsu, the Japanese small carmaker owned by Toyota, halted domestic production after admitting it had solid the outcomes of security exams for greater than 30 years.