Daihatsu Motor in Japan announced on Monday that it will change how it reports its development and certification processes to Toyota Motor. This is because Toyota has increased supervision over its small car division following a safety test certification scandal.
This decision comes after more than a month since a new president from Toyota started leading Daihatsu. His job is to help Daihatsu, which makes small cars, grow again.
Daihatsu will still work with Toyota to develop actual vehicles. However, Daihatsu now sees itself as a “mobility company centered on mini vehicles.”
To make things clearer, Daihatsu will no longer have the Emerging-market Compact Car Company (ECC), which linked Toyota and Daihatsu before. Instead, Daihatsu will report its development and certification work to another Toyota segment that focuses on compact cars.
These changes will happen when models are being updated.
Daihatsu’s president, Masahiro Inoue, said that Toyota will now manage resources and plan products for Daihatsu. He also mentioned Daihatsu’s plan to introduce a battery-powered “kei car,” which is smaller and less powerful than regular cars, but didn’t give a specific time.
In February, Toyota’s sales in Japan dropped by a third because Daihatsu had to stop production due to the safety certification problems. This also affected Toyota’s reputation.
Toyota, which is the world’s largest carmaker, also faced problems with its truck maker Hino Motors and another affiliate, Toyota Industries. This led Toyota’s Chairman, Akio Toyoda, to apologize in January.
Daihatsu made up 4% of Toyota’s total sales in the first two months of this year, down from 7% last year. This includes sales from Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus and Hino Motors.
Daihatsu’s president, Masahiro Inoue, used to be Toyota’s CEO for the Latin America and Caribbean region before he became Daihatsu’s president on March 1st.