Photo/Illutration Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Akio Toyoda speaks at a news conference in Bangkok on May 8. (Toshiya Obu)

BANGKOK--Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Akio Toyoda apologized for the falsified safety tests conducted by subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Co.

“It was an absolutely unacceptable act that betrays the trust of our customers,” Toyoda said in the Thai capital on May 8. “We are committed to regaining public confidence.”

Toyoda and three executives held the news conference in Thailand, a major market and global manufacturing hub for the Toyota group, to address the issue.

One of the executives, who is in charge of operations in the region, stressed that new tests had confirmed that the affected models met the required safety standards.

He added that an in-house investigation would continue to determine what led to the bogus tests.

Daihatsu admitted on April 28 to rigging side-collision safety tests for four models, including one still in development, to gain international regulatory approval.

Yaris Ativ, one of the four models, is the top-selling vehicle in its category in Thailand.

The front doors of the vehicles were modified to improve the chances of passing the tests, the company said.

Such modifications were not part of the original designs of the vehicles, most of which were sold overseas under the Toyota brand.

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