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Several Japanese automakers have been caught falsifying certification tests, and Toyota may be the largest violator.
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) said its ongoing investigation into 85 domestic manufacturers, including several automakers, found that most of them acted in accordance with the law. But this does not apply to Mazda, Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki. In relation to these four, facts of falsification of applications for approval were revealed. Thus, they are “found guilty of fraud.” The offending companies are ordered to suspend shipment of vehicles whose certification tests were falsified and to correct the deficiencies as quickly as possible.
Mazda was found to have rewritten its engine management software to influence performance testing, while Yamaha and Honda provided false noise tests. Suzuki lied about its brake 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 vehicles.”
Toyota has issued its own detailed statement on the matter, claiming that the lies were actually in the interests of consumers.
Toyota said it found six cases among the seven models “where testing methods differed from standards specified by national authorities,” but stressed that none of the vehicles involved were unsafe.
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Shinji Miyamoto, head of the Toyota Customer First Promotion Group, said that in most cases “more stringent testing conditions” were used and their data provided to the government exceeded what is required by law. In one example, a heavier movable barrier than required by law was used to test for fuel leakage in a rear-end collision, resulting in a more severe impact.
In other Toyota violations, the company failed to distinguish between the passenger and driver sides, reporting injuries to the pedestrian's head and legs as a result of the side impact. In another case, Toyota provided data on the risks of luggage movement using an old luggage test unit that did not meet regulations. Finally, Toyota was unable to achieve target engine power during the test, and instead of shutting it down to correct the problem as required, “the engine management system was tuned… and the re-verified data was used for certification,” Miyamoto said.
“We have conducted an internal review of all cases and have confirmed that they all meet legal standards and therefore can be safely used by our customers,” Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said of the victims vehicles.
Toyota said the false testing affected the 2014 Crown and 2015 Isis, Sienta, Crown and Lexus RX, none of which are no longer in production. Incorrect certification tests have also been 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 identified problems are based on the revision of past certifications in accordance with Japanese requirements. Other regions may have different certification processes and standards.
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