Several Japanese automakers have been found to have falsified certification tests, and Toyota may be the biggest offender.
Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has announced that its ongoing investigation of 85 domestic manufacturers, including several automakers, has found that most of them acted in accordance with the law. But this does not apply to Mazda, Yamaha, Honda, and Suzuki. As for these four, the facts of falsification of applications for approval were revealed. Therefore, they are «found guilty of fraud». The offending companies have been ordered to suspend shipments of vehicles whose certification tests were falsified and to remedy the deficiencies as soon as possible.
Mazda was found to have rewritten its engine management software to influence performance testing. At the same time, Yamaha and Honda provided false noise tests. Suzuki lied about brake system test results, and Mazda also falsified crash tests.
The investigation into Toyota is still ongoing. However, the MLIT has already reported violations such as «submitting false pedestrian protection test data for three currently produced vehicles» and «falsifying vehicles for crash tests for four previously produced vehicles».
Toyota has issued its own detailed statement on the matter, claiming that the lies actually served the interests of consumers.
Toyota stated that it found six cases among these seven models «where the testing methods differed from the standards defined by national authorities», but emphasized that none of the vehicles involved were unsafe.
Shinji Miyamoto, team leader of Toyota’s Customer First Promotion Group, said that in most cases, «used stricter testing conditions than», and their data provided to the government exceeded what is required by law. In one example, a heavier moving barrier than required by law was used to test for fuel leakage in a rear-end collision, resulting in a stronger impact.
As for Toyota’s other violations, the company failed to distinguish between the passenger and driver sides when reporting injuries to a pedestrian’s head and legs as a result of a side impact. In another case, Toyota provided data on the risks of moving luggage using an old luggage test unit that did not meet the standards. Finally, Toyota was unable to reach the target engine power during the test, and instead of stopping it to correct the problem as required, «the engine management system was adjusted… and the re-verified data was used for certification», — Miyamoto said.
«We have conducted an internal review of all cases and confirmed that they all meet the legal standards and can therefore be safely used by our customers,» said Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda about the affected vehicles.
Toyota said that the faulty tests affected the 2014 Crown and the 2015 model year Isis, Sienta, Crown and Lexus RX, none of which are in production anymore. The incorrect certification tests were also applied to current vehicles such as the Corolla Axio and Corolla Fielder, as well as the Yaris Cross, which have been suspended in Japan.
It is unclear how many vehicles were sold with falsified certificates or whether they were distributed outside of Japan. However, it is noted that the problems identified are based on a review of past certifications in accordance with Japanese requirements. Other regions may have different certification processes and standards.
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