Daihatsu’s losses due to the crash testing scandal could amount to $700 million – Kommersant

The Japanese automobile company Daihatsu may suffer losses of 100 billion yen ($700 million) due to falsification of vehicle crash test results and other violations related to operational safety. The newspaper reported this Nikkei with reference to the source.

The amount of losses is due to the suspension of vehicle production at all Daihatsu factories and lost sales. The timing of the resumption of production is still unknown. According to Nikkei, the company plans to negotiate with suppliers about compensation due to the production stoppage.

Four Daihatsu factories suspended work on December 25 and 26. In April, the company admitted falsifying the results of side impact crash tests for 88 thousand vehicles. After this, an independent commission conducted an investigation and declared violations for all 64 models and 3 engines produced by Daihatsu. The audit showed that falsification of crash test results had already been allowed before.

The company accounts for about a third of the small car market in Japan. Daihatsu sold 1.7 million vehicles last year. In the first ten months of 2023, Daihatsu produced 1.1 million vehicles. Of these, almost 40% were assembled at the company’s factories outside Japan. During the same period, about 660 thousand cars produced by Daihatsu were sold worldwide, which represents 7% of sales of all Toyota Motor cars.

Lusine Balasyan