A Daihatsu Motor Co. Boon CILQ automobile, proper, and a Toyota Motor Corp. Passo automobile are displayed throughout a press convention in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, April 11, 2016.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
Toyota Motor stated on Tuesday each the president and chairman of Daihatsu Motor will step down virtually a yr after the small-car unit stated it had rigged collision safety-tests.
The departures are among the many most drastic adjustments Daihatsu has made thus far, as Toyota seeks to return the model to its roots as one among Japan’s most iconic compact automobile makers.
Toyota faces a possible hit to its fame from the protection certification lapses at Daihatsu, in addition to separate governance points at truck maker Hino Motors and affiliate Toyota Industries.
The scandals on the three corporations triggered a uncommon apology of Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda final month.
In a press release, the world’s top-selling automaker stated its chief government officer for the Latin America and Caribbean area, Masahiro Inoue, will substitute Soichiro Okudaira as Daihatsu’s president efficient March 1.
Daihatsu’s chairman, Sunao Matsubayashi, may also step down and won’t get replaced, Toyota added.
The outgoing Okudaira had labored at Toyota for practically 4 many years earlier than turning into president of Daihatsu in 2017, a yr after it grew to become a completely owned Toyota subsidiary.
Toyota Chief Govt Koji Sato instructed reporters, nevertheless, that the organizational change at Daihatsu was not carried out as a punishment for the outgoing executives.
In quantity phrases, Daihatsu accounted for 7% of Toyota’s whole group gross sales of 11.2 million autos in 2023, together with these of the posh Lexus model and Hino Motors.
Given the misconduct over the protection take a look at certification purposes, Daihatsu additionally will probably be faraway from a industrial automobile partnership generally known as the Business Japan Partnership Applied sciences (CJPT), the automaker stated in a separate assertion.
The partnership was established in April 2021 by Toyota, Hino and Isuzu Motors to facilitate know-how growth for industrial autos. Suzuki Motor and Daihatsu joined in July the identical yr.
Daihatsu’s 10% fairness stake within the partnership will probably be transferred to Toyota, the assertion stated.
