Daihatsu bosses to step down following rigged safety-test scandal
The job movements come almost a year after the Toyota-owned Japanese brand admitted to rigging side-collision tests on 88,000 cars.
Almost one year after a scandal involving rigged safety tests at Daihatsu was made public, Toyota has announced the Chairman and President of the Toyota-owned small-car brand are stepping down.
In April 2023, a report published by Reuters detailed how Daihatsu had rigged side-collision safety tests for 88,000 vehicles — with some sold as Toyota models — with a “notch” added to reportedly minimised the risk of a sharp edge injury to vehicle occupants as the airbags were deployed.
As a result of the Daihatsu scandal, Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda released an apology in January 2024.
The Toyota release said Masahiro Inoue, its chief executive officer for the Latin America and Caribbean region will be replacing the outgoing Daihatsu President Soichiro Okudaira, effective 1 March 2024.
It also said Daihatsu's chairman Sunao Matsubayashi would not be replaced following his departure.
Reuters claims Toyota Chief Executive Officer Koji Sato had told reporters the changes occurring at Daihatsu weren’t serving as a punishment for the departing employees.
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