Daihatsu’s complete production halt, which was announced at the end of last month following the fallout from its safety test scandal, is set to go on until next month. Initially, the automaker said it had planned to suspend operations at all its domestic assembly plants until the end of January, but the company has announced that this will now be extended to the middle of February.
It said that operations at three of its four Japanese factories – namely the Shiga (Ryuo) Plant No.2, Daihatsu Kyushu‘s Oita (Nakatsu) Plant No.1/Plant No.2 and the Ikeda Plant Copen factory – will remain completely suspended until February.
Meanwhile, it is considering resuming partial production at its Oyamazaki Plant in Kyoto. While production of the Daihatsu Thor, Toyota Roomy and Subaru Justy at the facility will not resume until at least February 16, the firm said that resuming build of the Toyota Probox and Mazda Familia Van is under consideration, but added it would take into account customer feedback, the preparedness status of suppliers and other relevant factors before a decision is made on the matter.
The automaker has continued to be hit hard by the scandal. Last week, it had three vehicle type approvals (VTAs) revoked by Japan’s ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism (MLIT) last week, and this was followed by a recall for 322,740 units of the Daihatsu Cast and Toyota Pixis Joy for being non-compliant with standards
The rectification order issued by the MLIT – which conducted its own investigation into the affair – last week also requires Daihatsu to make fundamental reforms to its management, workplace environment and culture which resulted in “wrongdoings,” in particular crash safety tests done for regulatory approval applications for several models.
All this will of course cost the automaker dearly. Initial estimates were that the company could suffer over 100 billion yen (RM3.2 billion) in losses stemming from the shutdown of its plants as well as from providing financial compensation to suppliers, but that was working on an end-January timeframe. With the extension, the costs are surely to increase.
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