Daihatsu recalls 320,000 cars and extends factory halt

Carmaker Daihatsu recalled more than 320,000 vehicles and extended a factory shutdown on Wednesday, deepening troubles sparked by a major safety testing scandal last month.

The Toyota-owned firm notified the transport ministry that it would recall a total of 322,700 vehicles of two models due to a door defect.

The company also announced that operations at three of its four factories would stay suspended until Feb. 16, with the firm considering plans to restart a Kyoto plant.

The move comes as Daihatsu said in December it had been manipulating safety tests since at least 1989, affecting 64 models, including some sold under the Toyota brand, which are also being suspended.

In the same month, the company suspended all its domestic production.

In April, it said it had been falsifying crash test results for four of its models, involving a total of 88,000 vehicles made in Thailand and Malaysia in 2022 and 2023.

In May, it announced it was halting production in Japan of two hybrid vehicle models because of similar “irregularities,” including the Toyota Raize SUV, manufactured on behalf of its parent company.

Founded in 1907 to manufacture internal combustion engines, Osaka-based Daihatsu launched its first three-wheeled vehicle in 1931, before being taken over by Toyota in 1967.