Daihatsu's safety test scandal leads to a serious production halt as all its four manufacturing plants are affected. The production suspension is expected to last until 2024.
This was confirmed by the Toyota-owned carmaker on Monday, Dec. 25, after admitting that it falsified its safety tests for some vehicles. Before the announcement, Japan's transport ministry conducted an investigation.
After confirming that the Japanese automaker really conducted testing frauds, the transport ministry ordered it to stop its shipments until all its car units passed the government's environmental and safety standards.
Daihatsu Pauses Production Until 2024 Over Safety Test Scandal
BBC News reported that Daihatsu admitted that it manipulated some of its safety tests on 65 makes for three decades; 24 of these car models were sold with Toyota branding.
Because of this, it had to close its headquarters in Osaka, Japan. The suspension of the Osaka plant followed the closures of Daihatsu's other production lines in Kyoto, Shiga, and Oita prefectures.
On Wednesday, Dec. 27, the Japanese carmaker confirmed that it halted all its vehicle shipments after the latest admission, which followed the investigation of Japan's transport ministry.
Japanese speculated that Daihatsu falsified its safety tests because it was pressured to keep production rolling. The Toyota-owned car manufacturer provided its plan to solve its business fallout because of the fake safety test scandal.
Daihatsu explained that it will work with its main suppliers and help smaller subcontractors that don't receive compensation to access the support funds provided by the Japanese transport ministry.
What Will Happen to Daihatsu Workers?
Experts warned that the latest safety test scandal could jeopardize over 9,000 Daihatsu employees, as well as the carmaker's reputation.
Because of this, the Japanese automaker's labor union is demanding Daihatsu to provide 90% of the affected workers' regular salaries, as reported by The Japan Times.
Although Daihatsu said that many of its plant employees would still be able to work in the following days, the scandal created fears that the production suspensions would negatively affect the local economies.
As of writing, Daihatsu said that the production halt could last until the end of January 2024. But, this could either end earlier or get prolonged depending on the resolution.
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