THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
February 10, 2024 at 19:01 JST
Soichiro Okudaira, right, president of Daihatsu Motor Co., submits a package of measures designed to prevent a recurrence of cheating practices to transport minister Tetsuo Saito on Feb. 9. (Eishi Kado)
Embattled automaker Daihatsu Motor Co. vowed to spend 40 percent more time on vehicle development and increase testing personnel seven-fold as part of measures to root out cheating on government certification testing, which it did for decades.
Soichiro Okudaira, president of the Toyota subsidiary, delivered the pledge in a report to transport minister Tetsuo Saito.
“We want to rebuild Daihatsu as a company that can do things the right way,” Okudaira said Feb. 9 after he submitted the report.
An investigation report issued Dec. 20 by a third-party panel formed by Daihatsu cited pressure stemming from “excessively tight and rigid” development schedules and staff cutbacks in a certification division as factors behind the fraudulent practices.
In response, Daihatsu said it plans to extend the standard vehicle development schedule by 40 percent and increase personnel responsible for certification testing seven-fold by around June, compared with January 2023.
The number of personnel in charge of evaluating safety performances will increase by 50 percent from the level in January last year.
The automaker also plans to establish a multi-tiered system to monitor whether certification testing is being appropriately carried out. It pledged to make executives and employees realize they are obliged to comply with laws and regulations.
In the aftermath of the scandal, Daihatsu suspended all vehicle production at its four group factories.
Production will resume at a plant in Oyamazaki, Kyoto Prefecture, on Feb. 12, and its subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Kyushu Co. will begin production of 10 vehicles at its plant in Nakatsu, Oita Prefecture, on Feb. 26.
It remains undecided when production can resume at the remaining two plants, one in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, and the other in Ryuo, Shiga Prefecture.
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