Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu has re-tested the Raize Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and Rocky HEV to prove their crashworthiness. This was deemed necessary as an investigation carried out by the car maker found lapses in the previous side impact collision tests for the said models.
The Japanese-spec Toyota Raize
Note that this follows the Toyota-Daihatsu Motor Co. Ltd crash test fiasco. To refresh your memories, this particular case involves rigged crash test procedures for several Daihatsu-produced models like the next-generation Toyota Yaris (Vios), Axia (Wigo), etc.
In light of the aforementioned, the Toyota subsidiary voluntarily conducted an in-house collision test to assure its customers that the Toyota Raize HEV and the Rocky HEV meet current regulatory safety standards.
Specifically, the company performed the UN-R135, otherwise known as the side collision test. This involves crashing a test unit into a utility-type pole at a speed of 32 km/h. The tests were conducted at the Daihatsu Shiga Technical Center in Japan.
The brand says that the re-test results indicate that the Raize HEV and the Rocky HEV meet legal safety standards for occupant protection from side impacts. The model’s doors did not dislodge or release, and they did not leak any more fuel than the legal standards indicated.
How the side impact tests were carried out.
As mentioned above though, the tests were performed in-house by Daihatsu and are yet to be confirmed by a third party. As such, Toyota said that sales and shipments for the Raize HEV and Rocky HEV models will only resume after testing the models once again in the presence of certification authorities.
Toyota went on to say that it is solving the problem by listening to front-line workers and re-evaluating its own governance structure. The company likewise shared that this was not the fault of an individual. Rather, this is a company-wide issue wherein someone or an entire workplace was “forced to commit a wrongdoing.”
For the Philippine-spec Toyota Raize and the Malaysian-spec Perodua Ativa however, no statements were provided by the company. So keep it here on Philkotse for more updates on this issue.