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Toyota Motor has been forced to suspend more shipments of its vehicles after Japanese authorities identified seven new vehicles that weren’t properly certified.
Since early June, Toyota’s facilities have been under investigation by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, which found eight new cases where vehicles improperly passed certification testing. Toyota said customers do not need to stop using the vehicles, although authorities are now checking the company’s compliance with their standards.
The affected vehicles include three terminated models, including the 2015 Lexus RX and 2014 Daihatsu Mebius. Three models shipped overseas are also included in the latest notice: the 2017 Toyota RAV, 2022 Toyota Harrier, and 2023 Lexus LM. Shipments of Toyota’s Noah and Voxy people mover vans have been frozen.
Japan’s automakers have been under increased scrutiny since Toyota’s Daihatsu subsidiary admitted last year to rigging collision safety tests for some 88,000 vehicles. In December, a third-party probe found evidence that testing for as many as 64 models had been tampered with, pushing the company to temporarily shut down factories and a management shakeup.
“These acts shake the very foundations of the certification system, and as an automobile manufacturer, we believe they are acts that must never be committed,” Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said in a briefing last month. Toyoda in June was faced with shareholder backlash over the incident, which saw his support rate among investors fall to a record low.
Toyota on Wednesday said its most recent incidents were caused by a combination of a lack of understanding and involvement from managers and a lack of resources and clear rules required for the certification process. It also said that it would resume sales of three vehicles involved in the scandal, including the Corolla Fielder, in September, pending government approval.
Toyota’s sales were hit hard by the scandal, which has now persisted for more than a year. The automaker’s domestic sales fell 32% to 823,595 vehicles during the first half of 2024, although overseas sales climbed to a record 4.34 million cars because of strong demand in Europe and north America.
Several automakers besides Toyota have been caught up in authorities’ increased scrutiny. Honda Motor, Mazda Motor, Suzuki Motor, and Yamaha Motor have all admitted to testing issues as part of separate investigations. Several dozen cars across the companies have been named in disclosures and there are some active investigations.