Toyota’s subsidiary is involved in a scandal, affecting both Vios and Wigo about to return to Vietnam?

Toyota group-owned auto brand Daihatsu admitted to falsifying the results of crash safety tests for more than 88,000 vehicles.

Specifically, there are 88,000 sold vehicles affected, mainly Toyota brands such as the new generation Toyota Yaris Ativ (also known as Toyota Vios), Perodua Axia, Toyota Agya (also known as Toyota Wigo).

Daihatsu has researched, developed and safety tested the above vehicle models, which are then marketed under the Perodua brand in Malaysia and Toyota in other regions such as Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and other countries.

Toyota Yaris Ativ, another name for Vios in the Thai market

The fraud involved customizing the interior of the car doors in the tested car models.

Both companies announced on April 28 that similar vehicle customization for testing was not being applied to vehicles sold.

Currently, Daihatsu must temporarily stop selling the above-mentioned car models to conduct safety inspections in the presence of regulators.

Mr. Soichiro Okudaira, President of Daihatsu, said: `We sincerely apologize to our customers and stakeholders for betraying their trust and support for us. A third party will step in to

As of April 28, Toyota Yaris Ativ (also known as Toyota Vios) was recorded to account for the majority of the total number of affected vehicles, with nearly 76,000 vehicles.

Toyota Agya (name of Toyota Wigo in the Indonesian market) is one of the affected car models

Daihatsu discovered this fraud thanks to a whistleblower report and notified the authorities and temporarily suspended deliveries of the affected models.

According to Toyota, there have been no reports of accidents or injuries related to side impact test rigging.

Mr. Akio Toyoda – Chairman of the Board of Directors of Japan’s largest car company emphasized: `Daihatsu cars are sold under the Toyota brand, so they have affected Toyota’s reputation. Therefore, we are investigating.

The fraud incident took place in the context that the new generation Toyota Wigo 2023 is about to launch in the Vietnamese market (expected on May 24).

Notably, Toyota Vios 2023 is also expected to launch in Vietnam in the next 1-2 months.