5 million cars involved in counterfeiting, how the biggest scandal in the history of Japanese automobiles came about

Travel a guest

2024-06-06 21:16Posted in Beijing Automotive Creators

Text | Zhai Fangxue, Wang Jingyi

Edit | Wang Jingyi

This is not the first time that the test fraud of Japanese car companies has been exposed, but I didn't expect that this time the five major car companies overturned together.

At the end of 2023, Daihatsu, a subsidiary of Toyota, was found to have quality violations in almost all models (more than 1 million units), and the fraud has been for up to 30 years. At that time, Akio Toyoda, the head of the Toyota Group, came forward to bow and apologize, saying that this behavior betrayed the trust of customers and was "absolutely unacceptable", and promised to rectify it within a time limit.

But just half a year later, Akio Toyoda came out to apologize again, and this time the situation was more serious - Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Yamaha and Suzuki were notified by the government that there was fraud in the performance test of the car, involving a total of 38 models and a scale of more than 5 million vehicles.

According to the investigation, Toyota had problems with 7 models (1.7 million units) by not only submitting false data in pedestrian protection tests, but also illegally processing test vehicles in crash tests. Mazda's fraud is even more exaggerated, in the crash test, the countdown timer was used to control the airbag explosion; It also conducts a 1-hour vehicle test in a confined environment, which affects the engine test results.

So more executives came out to bow and apologize. After the announcement was issued, executives from Toyota, Honda and Mazda held press conferences on the 3rd to apologize to the public for the incident.

This is the biggest scandal in the history of Japanese automobiles, which has led to the suspension of production and shipment of many models, and will directly drag down Japan's GDP. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's mining industry production index showed that the auto industry fell sharply by 15.9% month-on-month in January and by 8.1% in February, after Daihatsu stopped production and shipments.

What is clear is that China is not currently involved in the counterfeiting incident. Toyota China told us: "After confirmation, the models sold by FAW Toyota, GAC Toyota and Lexus in the Chinese market have nothing to do with this incident, and the relevant certification tests are completed in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations under the supervision and guidance of the Chinese management department, and there are no safety and quality problems, please use them with confidence." ”

01 "Shaking the foundation of Japan's automotive certification system"

On the morning of June 4, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism sent five employees to the headquarters of Toyota Motor Corporation in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, to begin an on-site inspection.

As a result of the inspection, seven models did not meet Japanese certification standards, including those produced in the past, and shipments and sales of the three models currently produced were suspended.

The "RX" model under the Lexus brand has been named by the government.

In the 2015 engine output test, the target value was not reached, and the data was adjusted by computer and re-tested to obtain the value. Later investigation found that the exhaust pipe used for the test was damaged, which was a data tampering.

According to a survey by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Toyota had problems with seven models (1.7 million units), of which three models in production submitted false data in pedestrian protection tests, such as the hood collision project, which should have measured two corners of the front of the vehicle, but only one corner was measured; Four discontinued models were illegally processed into test vehicles in crash tests. Shipments of the Corolla Field, Corolla Axio, and Yaris Cross were discontinued.

Mazda's fraud is even more exaggerated, in the 50km/h frontal collision test, the airbag explosion is counted down rather than sensors, and the models involved are all sold in the Japanese market, namely the Ankesaila, Atez and MAZDA6.

In addition, in order to pass the engine test, Mazda tests the vehicle in a confined environment for one hour, and when the vehicle detects an increase in the intake air temperature (+5 degrees Celsius), which is not possible during a normal driving crash, the engine program will not automatically adjust the ignition time. As a result of this incident, sales of the current MX5RF and Mazda2 will be temporarily suspended.

Honda, for its part, admitted that the results of noise (NVH) and emissions tests on more than 20 new vehicles over the past eight years were false, involving 3.25 million vehicles in 22 models. Three models of Yamaha Motor were involved in noise experiments under inappropriate conditions, and one model of Suzuki was involved in falsifying brake test results.

"Type certification" is a mechanism that takes into account the mass production and safety of automobiles. When Japanese automakers produce new vehicles, they submit an application to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and undergo an examination to see if they meet safety and environmental performance standards such as braking performance. If it passes the audit and carries out type approval, it only needs to be confirmed within the manufacturer whether it meets the standard, and there is no need to submit data for each vehicle and it will be subject to national inspection.

Japan's Minister of Transport, Tetsuo Saito, said: "We deeply regret that the violations have damaged the confidence of car users and shaken the foundation of the car certification system. ”

Toyota Group President Akio Toyoda apologized at a press conference, saying, "We neglected the certification process and mass-produced our cars without taking proper precautions." ”

Image source/IC

Investigations are ongoing, and the scale of the fraud is likely to continue to grow. Of the 85 companies requested by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to conduct internal investigations for violations, 68 had completed their investigations by the end of May. Seventeen companies, including Toyota, are continuing their investigations.

The Japanese government's investigation is not groundless, and its source is the large-scale fake turmoil that boiled over last year.

In April 2023, Daihatsu admitted to fraud in conducting side impact safety tests on 88,000 vehicles. At the end of the same year, a third-party committee investigating Daihatsu's quality violations issued a report stating that the scope of quality violations had been expanded to almost all models, including Toyota and other companies' brand vehicles, and that there were 64 models with violations.

For example, in a test that measures the acceleration of the head of a passenger in the passenger seat during a frontal collision, a test vehicle without an airbag may have an outlier due to the collision of the dummy's head with the interior of the cabin. Therefore, in order to ensure that the certification test is passed, the submitted data is replaced with other data prepared in advance.

It is precisely because of the excessive impact of Daihatsu fraud that the Japanese government has decided to conduct a systematic investigation into similar incidents of car companies.

02 Why is there large-scale counterfeiting?

Frequent fraud, frequent apologies, and then being exposed to a fraud scandal, this seems to have become a routine, and some netizens ridiculed Japanese car companies for having a "craftsman spirit". However, what is the reason why these related companies have repeatedly put themselves in the situation of counterfeiting?

Image source/IC

In the Daihatsu fraud incident, according to the third-party investigation report, in order to meet Toyota's requirements for fast supply and shorten the development cycle, Daihatsu's front-line employees had to take some violations. In addition, Daihatsu has been cutting costs for many years, and the quality inspection department has also been decoupled from the sales department, resulting in a large reduction in quality inspection personnel.

There is nothing wrong with reducing costs and increasing efficiency, but Dafa has taken a crooked path.

According to the investigation, Daihatsu has had intermittent violations for more than 30 years since 1989, especially since 2014.

Under the leadership of Chairman Toyota (at the time), who took office in 2005, Daihatsu carried out structural reforms, and in the process, the Mira e:S model developed significantly shortened the development and delivery time compared to the previous model. Based on this successful experience, in the subsequent development of new vehicles, a reduction in time was required.

Since becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota in 2016, Daihatsu has been developing small cars for the Asian market. Global sales in FY 2022 exceeded 1.7 million units, accounting for more than 10% of the total Toyota Group. However, under the supreme order of rapid development and rapid delivery, violations began to appear on the front line where time was pressing.

By 2022, only a third of what they were in 2010 were left in the department responsible for crash testing. There are fewer people and more things, and employees can only barely cope. Under pressure and resource constraints, the situation of having to resort to non-compliance has undoubtedly exacerbated the quality problems of Daihatsu.

Seiji Sugiura, a senior analyst at Tokai-Tokyo's Information Laboratory, said that the automotive industry's focus on speed and neglect of certification is the result of the pursuit of efficiency in planning, development, and production.

Catching up with efficiency is one thing, and testing standards are detached from the actual situation of enterprises, which may also be an important reason for large-scale fraud.

Seiji Sugiura said there may be a disconnect between the government's rules for the type approval system and the development of automakers. While companies take measures to prevent fraud, the system itself needs to adapt to the times.

Koji Endo of SBI Securities said that Japan's certification exams are very rigorous, much more rigorous than in other countries. But these safety inspection standards were established in 1951 and are outdated and difficult to comply with for many automakers.

Akio Toyoda also said at the apology press conference, "We have adopted stricter standards" and said, "Although it should not be up to me at the press conference, we should start discussing the system itself." ”

Factors such as the pursuit of efficiency and the flawed testing system may be the motivation for these Japanese companies to commit fraud, but they are not a valid reason for fraud.

In the aftermath of the incident, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said in a statement that it would take the issue seriously, "It is a fundamental issue that affects the safety of customers in automobile manufacturing." This is an incident that should not happen, and in the future, the guidance of the authorities will be followed, and the problem of fraud in certification applications will be thoroughly promoted, and trust will be restored through industry-wide efforts. ”

03 Frequently cheat and apologize

Bowing may be an apologetic gesture for these companies, but when faced with a serious problem like test fraud, companies can't just have attitude.

Image source/IC

Japanese media commented: "Every time a violation is exposed, the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will order companies to investigate, and the low self-cleaning ability of Japanese auto companies is exposed." ”

In 2016, Mitsubishi Motors broke out in a serious emissions test cheating scandal. The results of the investigation revealed that the company had used improper tactics in the fuel consumption testing process, resulting in the test results showing much higher fuel economy than it actually was. The counterfeiting involved up to 625,000 mini models. Mitsubishi Motors CEO Osamu Mashiko apologized again.

In March 2022, Toyota's Hino Motors broke out in a serious scandal involving falsification of emissions data. The investigation found that the company had been falsifying emissions data for some of its engines since 2003, involving about 640,000 models.

In 2023, Japan's third-largest auto parts manufacturer (formed by Hitachi and Honda) committed large-scale fraud, shipping more than 200 million related products, and the misconduct lasted for about 40 years, making it the longest-running scandal.

Fraud scandals have snowballed, and consumers' trust in Japanese cars has been continuously impacted, and the most direct impact is reflected in the Japanese economy.

Daihatsu's quality fraud problem led to the cessation of automobile production and shipments, which Japanese media believe directly led to negative growth in Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) from January to March 2024.

Many predicted a rebound in GDP in April-June, but a much larger car fraud scandal has been revealed. Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said, "The impact of certification fraud on the Japanese economy is significant. ”

Automobiles are not only Japan's important business card in the world, but also the largest pillar of Japan's domestic economy, accounting for 40% of the entire industrial output value and 8% of the entire Japanese economy.

According to statistics from Teikoku Databank, as of May 2024, the total number of supply chain companies of the eight Japanese automakers is 59,193, and the total transaction value is estimated to be 41.997 trillion yen. Toyota alone has 39,113 stores, reaching 20.7138 trillion yen. 

Such a large-scale fraud has touched the very roots of Japan's automotive business and culture, and the storm is likely to continue to spread as the investigation deepens.

Editor-in-charge: Zhao Cheng

View original image 536K

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•