Toyota halts Yaris sales in Thailand over safety test issue

Toyota Motor Corp halted sales and deliveries of its Yaris Ativ model in Thailand after it found that Daihatsu, its subsidiary, had tampered with part of the door in side crash safety tests.

Toyota and Daihatsu revealed last month that they were investigating how a portion of the door in sideimpact safety tests on about 88,000 small cars was altered for side-impact safety testing.The problem may have arisen due to pressure on Daihatsu to shorten the Ativ’s development time. The vehicles that customers were currently using were considered safe.

Toyota is working with the Thai government to resume sales of the model, which was produced at the Toyota Gateway plant in Chachoengsao province, and further investigations are underway. Daihatsu said around 76,000 vehicles were Yaris Ativas primarily destined for Thailand, Mexico and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda has a personal relationship with Thailand, calling it his “home away from home”.