Toyota, Honda, Mazda and many other Japanese automakers were exposed for falsifying test data

On June 4, according to foreign media reports, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan recently reported that Toyota, Honda, Mazda and other automakers were found to have submitted false data during the certification process of multiple models.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is one of the central ministries in Japan. The regulatory department said that the three current Toyota models, "Corolla Fielder", "Corolla Axio" and "YARiS CROSS", two Mazda models and one Yamaha motorcycle model have violations. Violations were also found in the models produced by these three companies in the past.

Toyota reportedly submitted false data and illegally processed test vehicles in safety-related tests.

Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda held a press conference in Tokyo yesterday and said: "As the head of the group, I sincerely apologize to everyone. I think this is a problem that shakes the foundation of the certification system. It is something that an automobile manufacturer must never do." Toyota said that the company's internal investigation is continuing.

Mazda recently announced the results of an investigation, saying that violations were found in crash tests and engine power tests of a total of about 150,000 vehicles produced after 2014. Honda and Suzuki were only found to have violations in models produced in the past.

Regarding this scandal, Toyota China stated on its official website that we sincerely apologize for the concerns caused to our customers regarding the irregularities in the certification applications for some Toyota vehicles in the Japanese market.

Toyota China said, "After confirmation, the models sold by FAW Toyota, GAC Toyota and Lexus in the Chinese market have nothing to do with this incident. The relevant certification experiments were completed in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations and under the supervision and guidance of Chinese management departments. There are no safety and quality issues. Please feel free to use them."

In the past decade, many scandals have been exposed in large Japanese companies. Toshiba's executives resigned collectively due to a financial fraud scandal. In July 2015, then-Toshiba President Tanaka and eight internal directors resigned on the same day. The report on the investigation of accounting violations published by the third-party committee authorized by Toshiba at the time showed that the three former presidents of Toshiba had made illegal accounting treatments "in business judgment" by putting pressure on their subordinates. Fujifilm was also exposed for false reporting of profits and illegal financial issues of its overseas subsidiaries.