Photo/Illutration A Daihatsu Motor Co. dealership in Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Daihatsu Motor Co. has slammed the brakes on shipments of all vehicles after admitting to cheating on the safety tests on most of its models currently in production.

The Toyota Motor Corp. subsidiary announced on Dec. 20 that a third-party investigative team confirmed widespread falsified tests on 64 vehicle models and three engines, widening a scandal far deeper than initially suspected.

In a news conference held that day, the investigative team said some test-rigging cases can be traced back 34 years.

Daihatsu’s engineers “were under enormous pressure with an extremely tight schedule,” said Makoto Kaiami, who heads the team.

The investigative team, launched in May with members including outside lawyers, published a report on the same day on a series of test-rigging scandals by the manufacturer that came to light earlier this year.

In response to the report, the transport ministry will search the company’s offices on Dec. 21.

Daihatsu President Soichiro Okudaira is also expected to hold a news conference on Dec. 20 with executives from Toyota, which acquired Daihatsu in 2016.

There were 174 cases of misconduct in various tests, including collision safety and emissions assessments, according to the report.

Affected vehicles include discontinued models and cars manufactured by Daihatsu for other brands such as Toyota and Mazda Motor Corp.

Between April and May, Daihatsu admitted cheating on side-collision tests involving four models developed for the overseas market and two others marketed for domestic customers, with a total of 167,000 vehicles affected.

The six models included the Raize SUV hybrid and two other cars sold under the Toyota brand.

The scandal broke out after a whistleblower came forward.

At a news conference in April, Okudaira suggested development team members had faced enormous pressure to pass the safety tests on the first try.

Following the initial revelations of the scandal, the transport ministry searched the headquarters of Daihatsu in late May.

The latest problems with Daihatsu have dealt a fresh blow to Toyota group, following falsified emissions and fuel economy tests by Hino Motors Ltd. last year, and a similar case reported in March at Toyota Industries Corp., a machine maker from which the global auto giant developed.

(Kohei Kondo also contributed to this article.)

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