TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor announced its decision to suspend deliveries of certain models, including its Hilux truck and the Land Cruiser 300 SUV, after finding irregularities in certification tests of diesel engines developed by its subsidiary Toyota Industries.
A special investigative committee discovered irregularities during power tests for certification of three models of diesel engines.
Ten models use the affected engines, Toyota said, including the Hiace pickup truck, Fortuner SUV, Innova MPV and Lexus-branded LX500D SUV.
When the news was announced, Toyota Industries shares fell more than 5% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, around 05:36 GMT, to close down 4%. Toyota Motor shares ended the session up 3.1%.
The company said it was working to explain the matter in detail to authorities and would take steps such as running new engine certification tests in the presence of regulators, if necessary.
“There was a lack of communication with Toyota Motor and insufficient coordination regarding the testing processes and procedures that should have been followed,” Koichi Ito, president of Toyota Industries, said at a news conference.
Toyota Industries said it sold about 84,000 affected automotive diesel engines in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023. A Toyota Motor spokesperson could not immediately specify the total number of affected vehicles.
The group explained that it had again confirmed that the affected engines and vehicles meet performance standards, adding that the investigation revealed that the electronic control units used during the power tests are different from those used during the production of the engines.
Japan’s Transport Ministry said it would conduct an investigation on Tuesday at the site of Toyota Industries’ Hekinan plant in the central prefecture of Aichi, which makes automobile and industrial engines.
(Reporting Daniel Leussink and Chang-Ran Kim; French version Augustin Turpin; editing by Kate Entringer)
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