Toyota Halts Shipments of Some Vehicles After Engine Test Failures
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A unit of the company used software that made horse power “values appear smoother.” It’s the second production problem to hit the company in two months.
Toyota said it has halted the global shipments of 10 vehicles after it discovered that a subsidiary had “irregularities” with testing of diesel engines used in the automobiles, the latest embarrassing problem to hit one of the world’s biggest automakers in recent months.
A Toyota unit used software to measure horse power output that made “values appear smoother with less variation,” Toyota, the parent company, said in a statement. The vehicles “meet engine output standards,” and there is no need to stop using the engines or vehicles, the company said. The company named the affected models and engines, but did not say how many vehicles it would stop shipping.
Still, Toyota decided to stop shipping the 10 models that use three diesel engines at issue. Among the models that will temporarily be shut down is the popular Hilux pickup truck.
In December, Toyota was rocked by a series of recalls and production shutdowns. First, it recalled about 1 million vehicles in the United States because of an issue with airbags. Then, it reported that Japan’s government was investigating Daihatsu, the subsidiary, for safety problems that dated back decades.
Daihatsu said it would stop shipments of all of its models because of the safety-inspection irregularities. Last week, it said it was recalling 320,000 Daihatsu vehicles and was still not ready to reopen its production facilities.
Toyota said it understood “the gravity” of the two back-to-back testing problems that “have shaken the very foundations of the company as an automobile manufacturer.”
