Japanese automobile giant Toyota said on Monday that it is suspending deliveries of 10 models of diesel vehicles due to irregularities in the certification of its engines manufactured by its subsidiary Toyota Industries.
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The group gave the names of these ten models, but did not provide details on the sales volume they represent. These impressive vehicles, some of which are sold in both Asia, Europe and the Middle East (but none in North America), include the Hilux pickup, Land Cruiser 300 4×4, Fortuner and LX500d SUVs.
This is a new embarrassment for the world's leading automaker, which is already embroiled in a huge scandal of rigged tests by another of its subsidiaries, Daihatsu, whose production has been suspended since December.
Back in March 2023, Toyota Industries disclosed irregularities in certifications related to emissions from its forklifts and construction equipment, one of its core businesses, which led to a recall of the affected products in Japan.
An independent investigation has now confirmed that three diesel engines manufactured by Toyota Industries for automobiles were also affected by irregularities of the same type.
During the certification tests, the performance of the three diesel engines in question was measured using different software than that used for their mass production, so that the values obtained for their certifications had “less fluctuations,” explains Toyota in a statement.
At the same time, Toyota ensures that the affected engines and vehicles “meet performance standards” and therefore there is no need to stop using them.
However, Toyota Industries decided on Monday to “temporarily” stop shipping the affected engines and Toyota to “temporarily” stop shipping the models equipped with them.
“We recognize the seriousness of the fact that the repeated certification irregularities at TICO (Toyota Industries Corporation, editor's note) after those at Daihatsu have shaken the company's foundations as an automobile manufacturer,” Toyota said in its press release. .
The company promised to provide the Japanese authorities with “detailed explanations” about this new scandal and to quickly take “appropriate” measures.
This new scandal did not prevent Toyota shares from rising significantly on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Monday (+3.14%). Toyota Industries', however, fell 4%.