Report: Daihatsu Japan Production Halted Until Jan 2024, Perodua Operations Have Resumed

Daihatsu will reportedly suspend production in Japan until end of Jan 2024. (Image: Bloomberg)

Daihatsu will halt its production in Japan until the end of Jan 2024, reports newswire Reuters. This follow up from the recent crash test irregularities that the company, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corp., revealed and admitted to late last week.

As a refresher, Daihatsu disclosed recently that a safety investigation by an independent panel revealed a slew of newly discovered “irregularities” on top of the ones initially discovered back in April this year. Up to 64 models are known to be affected by this recent shipping halt.

Latest shipping halt stems from newly discovered "irregularities" from an independent investigation prompted by the earlier crash test-rigging scandal from April.

Besides Japan, shipments of affected vehicles were also reportedly halted in both Indonesia and Malaysia, but there seems to be development on both these fronts now. Vehicle shipments have already resumed in Indonesia as authorities have greenlit the effort after reportedly confirming the safety of all the cars involved.

Sources online report that Perodua's operations have resumed amidst the widening scandal, but the national carmaker remain tight-lipped since issuing its initial response where it made no mention of halting its production.

Closer to home, Reuters also added that production operation under Perodua have also resumed, but there seems to be no real confirmation on this. In its official statement responding to the halt in shipping by Daihatsu, Perodua made no mention about ceasing or halting its production efforts.

Instead, the national Malaysian carmaker only confirmed that it was in the midst of performing a detailed assessment and discussing with authorities to resolve the matter. From what we can observe, it appears Perodua’s operations have indeed returned to normal, but the firm remains tight-lipped for now.

Reports online further indicate that Daihatsu's operations in Indonesia have also resumed after being greenlit by local authorities there.

Whilst overseas production has somewhat resumed, Daihatsu’s domestic production efforts in Japan will be halted until end of next month at least. This suspension is poised to also affect components and parts suppliers significantly – up to 8,000 firms.

Nevertheless, credible sources online have indicated that Daihatsu has begun negotiations for compensation with said suppliers. At the same time, discussions with its labour union have also begun, and this largely centres on employee wages during this halt in production.

Daihatsu is also reportedly in the midst of discussing with affected suppliers and labour unions for compensation.

The same reports indicate that up to 423 domestic suppliers, with which Daihatsu conducts business directly with, will be compensated. A spokesperson from Daihatsu added that the firm will work with its main suppliers and address the ensuing fallout.

At the same time, the firm may also assist smaller subcontractors that don’t receive compensation to access support funds from the Japan’s local industry ministry.