"Unheard of", Toyota's big scandal over counterfeiting.

According to Japan's Yahoo! News reported on December 21, Toyota Motor and wholly owned subsidiary Daihatsu Industry issued a public announcement on December 20, stating that a total of 174 irregularities involving 64 models. On the same day, the leadership of Daihatsu Industries held a press conference to apologize to the public, stating that it would stop all car shipments and recall more than 1 million vehicles.

Screenshot of the report by Yahoo News Japan
According to Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, the vehicles in question have defective sensors in the front passenger seat that could cause the airbags to fail to trigger properly in the event of a crash.
Daihatsu Industries had said in April that it rigged side-impact safety tests on 88,000 small cars, most of which were Toyotas. However the latest revelations by the investigative team suggest that the actual scope of the falsification was much wider and started much earlier. It includes not only Japanese models such as Mazda (7261.T) and Subaru (7270.T) sold in its domestic market, but also some popular models sold overseas by Toyota and Daihatsu.

Mr. Koichiro Okudaira and others bowed and apologized Photo: Asahi Shimbun, Japan
On the 20th, Daihatsu Industry President Soichiro Okudaira, Vice President Hiroshi Hoshiga, and Toyota Vice President Hiroki Nakajima held a press conference to talk about the responsibility of Daihatsu's management, the background of the occurrence of the test falsification, and the future measures to cope with it, and bowed and apologized.
They blamed "insufficient resources at the certification site" for the background of the test falsification, saying that the development of overseas models after 2014 had led to an increase in load. The third-party committee analyzed that the overly intensive and rigid development schedule was concentrated in the certification department, which led to the test falsification, but that "it is not the employees at the site but the management staff who should be blamed.
Yuki Nakajima said, "Unfortunately the Toyota Group is not a perfect company either. Stop if there are mistakes, don't cheat, don't lie, face the facts honestly, and if necessary, publicize them immediately and share them with everyone." As for what consumers who are driving and have ordered the models in question should do? Mr. Koichiro Okudaira said that the vehicles in question will be recalled as soon as possible, and implored people to listen carefully to the recall to avoid uneasiness.
However, Toyota's approach is still criticized. Japan's Asahi Shimbun published an editorial on the 21st, blaming Toyota President Tsuneji Sato and Chairman Akio Toyoda for not showing up. Criticism that Toyota should recognize that after the scandal was announced this spring, the group should be committed to identifying the causes and restoring trust. For upset consumers, only a personal apology and an end to improper behavior can convey resolve.
In addition, Japan's veteran automotive journalist Kenji Momota said on a Fuji TV program that although there have been problems in the past, the Toyota fraud is "unheard of" and has been going on for a long time, starting more than 30 years ago, and that the actual situation is more than the 174 figure. He said, "This is a big, deep-rooted problem."