OSAKA – Daihatsu Motor suspended all domestic production on Tuesday, with the schedule for restarting operations at the plants unclear amid a safety testing scandal that affects most of its models.
The automaker halted operations at its factory in Osaka Prefecture, where the Copen minivehicle is assembled, on Tuesday. Of the company’s four factories in Japan, it was the last to be halted.
The suspension will last at least through the end of January, Daihatsu said Monday, dealing a blow to its more than 8,000 suppliers as well as its parent company, Toyota Motor.
The small-car unit of Toyota normally makes 4,000 cars per day in Japan. The automaker, which had about 9,000 employees at its domestic factories as of April, produced about 870,000 units in the last fiscal year.
Daihatsu said it promised to compensate all 423 of the companies it directly supplies.
Japan’s transport ministry raided Daihatsu’s headquarters in Osaka last week following revelations that the carmaker manipulated the results of safety tests dating as far back as 1989. A third-party investigation requested by Daihatsu in April — when suspected wrongdoing first emerged — found that 174 issues had been identified across 64 models, including in some sold under the Toyota brand.
The investigation centers around air bag control units, after it was found that those used during crash tests were different from the devices used in cars that were sold to the public. While those other test units were later found to meet industry standards, side-collision test results of the Daihatsu Cast and Toyota Pixis models “may not comply with the law,” Toyota has said.
Toyota said it’s not aware of any accidents or incidents related to the issue.
Daihatsu is popular for its lineup of kei minicars and other lightweight vehicles popular across Japan and Southeast Asia. It’s been a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota since 2016, and accounts for roughly 4% of Toyota group’s global vehicle sales.
The halting of production has been a concern to Daihatsu employees, but the company said Monday it has agreed on a compensation package with its labor union to pay part of its employees’ wages during the production stoppage.
A 36-year-old male worker at the Osaka plant said, “There has been no explanation about whether the company will be able to resume production. I’m worried.”