PUTRAJAYA – The top brass of Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd appeared before Malaysia’s National Committee for Vehicle Type Approval and Homologation (NCVTA) on Tuesday in the wake of reported rigged safety tests surrounding 88,000 cars under the Toyota Motor Corp affiliate.
It is understood that Daihatsu president Soichiro Okudaira provided a detailed explanation to the 13 members of NCVTA, which is chaired by Road Transport Department (RTD) Director-General Datuk Zailani Hashim, on Tuesday.
Okudaira, a former senior managing executive officer of Toyota, was accompanied by Toyota Malaysia and Perodua executives during the special session at the Transport Ministry two days ago.
Deemed as an effort to be transparent and mitigate regulator concerns, the 67-year-old Daihatsu president rushed to Malaysia three days after a press briefing by Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda and chief executive (CEO) Koji Sato, in which both made an admission over a rigged part of the door in the side-impact crash safety tests of some car models, most of which are sold under the Toyota brand.
During the emergency live press conference held last Friday at 9pm Japan time, Toyoda had expressed disappointment and anger following an exposé of the rigged tests by an internal whistle-blower.
“Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd’s wrongdoing is a matter that concerns safety, which is the most important aspect of vehicles. We consider this an absolutely unacceptable act that betrays the trust of our customers.
“We would like to sincerely apologise to our customers around the world and all related parties for the inconvenience and concern this has caused,” Toyoda had said.
Reuters reported that Toyota executives have revealed that the door trim on the affected vehicles had been modified with a “notch” to minimise the risk when testing if the door interior could break with a sharp edge and cause injury to an occupant when the side airbag deploys in an accident.
However, the companies reportedly said that the modification done for the side-impact collision test was not included in production cars.
It was then disclosed that 76,289 Toyota Vios units bound for markets in Mexico, Thailand, and the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) as well as 11,834 joint venture units manufactured with Perodua for the Axia model are affected.
However, the president and CEO of Perodua has assured that the UN-R95 certification given to the Axia is intact.
“We apologise for any distress caused to our customers on this matter and we wish to assure them that the safety information and specification of all our models are verified by professional bodies,” Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad said on Sunday.
Transport Ministry senior officials said that during Tuesday’s meeting, Okudaira informed Malaysia’s regulatory bodies through an interpreter on the latest developments and Daihatsu’s level of compliance with the United Nations’ side-impact crash safety standard, commonly known as UNECE R95, and also with the Middle East’s GCC Standardisation Organisation.
It is learned that a technical briefing to the national committee was also provided by Daihatsu executives based in Osaka via virtual conference on Tuesday.
The meeting was also attended by 12 other members of the NCVTA consisting of representatives from the Transport Ministry; Investment, Trade, and Industry Ministry; Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry; Land Public Transport Agency; Environment Department; Customs Department; Standards Department; Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research; Occupational Safety and Health Department; Malaysia Automotive, Robotics, & IoT Institute; Sirim Bhd; and Puspakom Sdn Bhd.
It is unclear whether the committee was satisfied with the explanation given by Daihatsu, Toyota, and Perodua officials two days ago.
“RTD may have to provide recommendations to the transport minister on the next course of action,” the source said.
It is also unclear whether the affected Toyota and Perodua models were certified by independent safety bodies in Japan or had already undergone the Asean New Car Assessment Programme (Asean NCAP) crash test ratings.
The Vibes has sought comments from RTD, Asean NCAP, and Global NCAP for clarification. – The Vibes, May 4, 2023
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