Daihatsu Motor Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Toyota, announced the forming of an independent third-party committee to review the recent crash test issue.
Several DNGA-based models are affected by the crash test issue
To keep you up to speed, the Japanese automaker admitted that the crash test ratings of four of its models were rigged. These models include the Toyota Yaris (also known as Vios), Perodua Axia (a.k.a. Toyota Wigo), Toyota Agya, and one undisclosed model in development. A total of 88,123 units were affected as of the end of March 2023.
The third-party committee, consisting of external experts in legal and technical matters, will carry out necessary investigations, report the results of the investigations, and recommend measures to prevent the recurrence of similar irregularities.
Included in the team are Committee Chair Makoto Kaiami, a lawyer at Otemachi Law Office; Committee member Hidetaka Nishina, a partner and lawyer at Nakamura, Tsunoda, & Matsumoto; and Committee member Kanji Nakayama, director at the Automobile Information Network Association.
The automaker wants to ensure that this issue won't happen again
But it seems like the four models aren’t the only ones to be investigated due to a crash test issue. In a recent report by Reuters, irregularities were found in the side-collision safety tests of the Toyota Raize HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) and the model it is based on, the Daihatsu Rocky. For now, Toyota stopped the sales of the subcompact crossover models in Japan.
All the disclosed models use the Daihatsu New Global Architecture (DNGA). It is a modular platform that is designed for small city cars. Locally, the Philippine-spec Toyota units underpinned by the platform include the Avanza, Veloz, and Raize.
“To its customers and all other stakeholders, Daihatsu would like to express its sincerest regret for the inconvenience its action [has] caused,” said Daihatsu in a press release. “Daihatsu will work with determination to change the company to ensure that the same mistakes will never be made again.”
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