News Toyota testing scandal widening

Yesterday, Toyota Motor Corporation on Monday admitted to cheating on various certification and safety tests for seven car models sold in Japan, three of which are still in production. Chairman Toyoda Akio apologized at a press conference in Tokyo, offering a customary low bow as he did so. His comments were based on the findings of an internal Toyota review launched as the Japanese government announced its own investigation at the beginning of the year. That probe is ongoing and affects multiple car manufacturers. The issue does not affect Toyota's non-Japanese market. However, it provides a stern test for Japanese car companies in their lucrative and symbolically important home market.

Toyota said in a press release that seven models were affected in all. "The model certification applications in question involve inadequate data in pedestrian and occupant protection tests for three production models," the Corolla Fielder — a station wagon version of the world's most popular sedan, Toyota Corolla, the hybrid Corolla Axio, and the compact SUV called the Yaris Cross. For four models discontinued in 2014 — the Crown, Isis, Sienta and an older version of the luxury Lexus RX — there were "errors in crash tests and other test methods," the company said. Toyota also asserted that while the cars did not undergo the proper certification and testing procedures, "we can confirm that there are no performance issues that contravene laws and regulations." In other words, the company claims the cars would have passed all properly required checks.

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Also on Monday, Mazda Motor Corp reported similar irregular certification testing for two models, the Roadster and Mazda 2. Like Toyota, it temporarily halted production of both. It said that three other discontinued models were also affected. Like Toyota, Mazda said none of the violations affected the vehicles' safety or performance. Honda also apologized for improper testing on noise levels and torque on a range of older models that are no longer in production. Again, it said all the vehicles conformed to the laws despite not being scrutinised.






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