Daihatsu Engine Chairman Soichiro Okudaira is stepping down amid a fraud scandal tied to crash safety testing results. A leadership transition is planned, and Masahiro Inoue, currently a Toyota Motor director overseeing Central and South American regions, is expected to take the helm. The upheaval comes as the company faces intensified scrutiny over its test procedures and certification practices.
The core issue centers on falsified data that Daihatsu provided to secure government approvals for vehicle safety. In 2023 a series of violations were identified across multiple models, prompting an independent commission to investigate. The commission surfaced more than 170 noted breaches spanning numerous models, including some marketed under the Toyota banner.
As a consequence, the distribution of Daihatsu vehicles and vehicles carrying the Toyota mark is currently paused both in Japan and in overseas markets. Production pauses were already in effect for several models during the previous year.
Earlier reports highlighted leadership changes in other sectors, noting that the senior manager of a company named Avilon Gulyaev briefly headed Rolf following nationalization, illustrating how governance shifts have become a recurring theme in recent market developments. These instances emphasize the broader impact of oversight failures on brand integrity and regulatory confidence across the auto industry.