Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda on Tuesday apologized for safety scandals that have rocked three of the company's subsidiaries.
On Monday, Toyota disclosed it was suspending shipments of some Toyota models including the Hilux truck and Land Cruiser 300 SUV after an independent panel uncovered wrongdoing in tests for diesel engines developed by supplier Toyota Industries. The disclosure comes after Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu shut down production last month after admitting to decades of fraudulent safety test results and an emissions scandal at subsidiary Hino Motors in 2022.
"I would like to express my deepest apologies to our customers and stakeholders for the inconvenience and concern caused by the successive irregularities at Hino Motors, Daihatsu and Toyota Industries," Toyoda told reporters at an event for the Toyota group, which now consists of 17 companies.
Though the scandals could potentially hurt the Japanese automakers' brand, Toyota Motor remained the global top-selling car manufacturer for the fourth consecutive year after posting record annual sales of 11.2 million vehicles in 2023, Reuters reported.
TOYOTA SUBSIDIARY SHUTS DOWN PRODUCTION AFTER ADMITTING TO DECADES OF SAFETY TEST ‘IRREGULARITIES’
Toyota reported a 7.2% jump in global sales last year, including those at Daihatsu and Hino Motors.
Toyota has now sold more than 10 million vehicles for nine of the past 10 years, excluding 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global markets, including the auto sector.
In second place, German competitor Volkswagen Group this month reported a 12% rise in deliveries last year to 9.2 million, marking a post-pandemic recovery as supply chain bottlenecks eased.
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Tuesday's data showed sales of Toyota's parent-only vehicles, which include those of its namesake and Lexus brands, hit a record of 10.3 million vehicles in 2023.
Gasoline-electric hybrids made up about a third of those. Battery electric vehicles accounted for less than 1%.
However, Toyota sales might slow down since Daihatsu, a Toyota subsidiary and one of Japan’s oldest combustion engine manufacturers founded in 1907, temporarily shut down its factories and suspended all vehicle imports and exports.
The shut-down came in response to an independent investigation that looked at 64 vehicle models and found 174 counts of irregularities in safety tests and other procedures, according to The Hill. Irregularities included tampering with safety tests, creating false information or fabricating test data in apparently widespread and systemic issues at the company.
Daihatsu halted all shipments while the investigation continued, and Japan’s Transport ministry began on-site inspections that looked into issues in the company dating back to 1989.
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Daihatsu said Tuesday its global production fell 25% to 121, 000 vehicles in December and its worldwide sales were down 8% that month, per Reuters.
Japan's transport ministry lifted a ban on shipments of 10 Daihatsu-made cars earlier in the day.
FOX Business' Peter Aitken and Reuters contributed to this report.
