Cops Raid Toyota Plant In Japan

Photo: Yoshikazu TSUNO (Getty Images)

Toyota is having a bad time. The company’s kei car wing has been forging crash test results, and its diesels have had “irregularities” in horsepower and torque ratings — irregularities so vast, apparently, that Japanese officials had to raid one of the company’s factories today.

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The factory belongs to a Toyota subsidiary, Toyota Industries Corp, which produces parts for use in Toyota Motor’s vehicles and factories. After the raid began, Toyota chair Akio Toyoda made some remarks about the company’s struggles, per Autoblog:

Japanese transport officials raided a Toyota-affiliated plant Tuesday after the company admitted to cheating on engine testing, as Toyota Motor Corp. reported it sold over 11 million vehicles in 2023 to retain its status as the world’s top car manufacturer.

Hours after the probe began at Toyota Industries Corp.’s plant in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, Toyota Chair Akio Toyoda vowed to steer the company out of scandal and ensure the Japanese automaker’s group companies stick to “making good cars.”

“My job is to steer the way for where the overall group should go,” Toyoda said.

He apologized, bowing deeply, and stressed the group vision was rooted in the Toyoda founding family’s ideas of empowering the “genba,” or the workers on the plant floor, “to make good cars that lead to people’s happiness.”

Toyota Industries Corp makes AC compressors, electronic assemblies, factory stamping dies, and — the product in question here — engines for the Land Cruiser 70, Prado, and 300 series, as well as the HiAce, Hilux, and Rav4.