Several Japanese automakers have been caught falsifying certification tests, and Toyota may be the largest offender.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan (MLIT) reported that its current investigation of 85 domestic manufacturers, including several automakers, found that most of them were acting in accordance with the law. But this does not apply to Mazda, Yamaha, Honda, and Suzuki. These four companies have been found to have falsified approval applications. Thus, they have been "found guilty of fraud." The violating companies have been ordered to suspend the shipment of vehicles whose certification tests were falsified and fix the defects as soon as possible.
It was found that Mazda rewrote its engine management software to influence performance testing. Meanwhile, Yamaha and Honda provided false noise tests. Suzuki lied about the brake system test results, and Mazda also falsified crash tests.
The investigation into Toyota is still ongoing. However, MLIT has already reported violations such as "submission of false pedestrian protection test data for three currently produced vehicles" and "falsification of crash test vehicles for four previously produced cars."
Toyota has released its detailed statement on the matter, claiming that the lies actually served the interests of consumers.
Toyota stated that they found six cases among these seven models where testing methods differed from the standards defined by national authorities, but emphasized that none of the vehicles involved are dangerous.
As for other Toyota violations, the company failed to differentiate between the passenger and driver sides, reporting head and leg injuries to pedestrians as a result of a side impact. In another case, Toyota provided data on the risks of moving luggage using an obsolete luggage block test that does not comply with standards. Finally, Toyota failed to achieve 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 retested data were used for certification," Miyamoto said.
"We conducted an internal review of all cases and confirmed that they all comply with established law standards and, therefore, can be safely used by our customers," said Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda about the affected vehicles.
Toyota stated that the false tests affected the 2014 Crown and 2015 model year releases of Isis, Sienta, Crown, and Lexus RX, none of which are no longer in production. Incorrect certification tests were also applied to current vehicles such as Corolla Axio, Corolla Fielder, and Yaris Cross, production of which has been suspended in Japan.
It is unclear how many vehicles were sold based on falsified certificates or if they were distributed outside of Japan. However, it is noted that the identified problems are based on a review of past certifications in accordance with Japanese requirements. Other regions may have different certification processes and standards.
Source: theregister
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