Toyota’s safety-test scandal dents the auto industry’s already ailing rep

Tokyo vise… Japanese auto authorities are clamping down on Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker by volume, over falsified safety-certification tests. It’s part of a regulatory sweep of Japan’s auto industry (the fourth largest) that also found that Honda, Mazda, Suzuki, and Yamaha all used incorrect or manipulated data. In response, Toyota and Mazda said they’d halt shipments of some vehicles, and Yamaha stopped shipping one of its motorcycle models. Carmakers said that vehicles already on the road were safe to drive.

• Bow: Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda (the grandson of Toyota’s founder) bowed as he apologized to customers, saying, “These acts shake the very foundations of the certification system.”

Check-engine light… Japanese regulators have the entire industry in the shop for a checkup. It all started last year when Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu was found to be undermining certifications by, for instance, copy-pasting test results taken from one side of the car to the other. That kicked off an investigation of nearly 90 manufacturers’ certification procedures. Before Daihatsu, airbag maker Takata rocked the industry after its falsification of safety-test data led to recalls of 67M airbags. And before that, Volkswagen faking of emissions data in 2015 (#dieselgate) resulted in the automaker paying $25B in fines.

• Recalls jumped by nearly half in the decade to 2022. With analysts saying car production has become increasingly complicated, automakers looking to keep costs down might cut corners — especially in Japan, where testing requirements are especially rigorous.