Toyota has halted sales in Thailand of a model that was found to have been subject to a rigged safety test by its affiliate Daihatsu.
Toyota officials in Thailand have reportedly blamed pressures during the development of the Ativ model and insisted that the vehicles in use are safe.
Toyota is said to be working with the Thai government to resume sales.
Toyota’s CEO for the Asia region, Masahiko Maeda, told reporters that there was pressure at the development site and that the vehicle’s relatively large size may have posed a challenge to small car specialist Daihatsu.
Toyota and Daihatsu disclosed last month they were investigating how part of the door in side-collision safety tests carried out for some 88,123 cars had been changed for the purpose of side-on crash safety testing.
Daihatsu has said that some 76,289 of those vehicles were Yaris Ativs mainly bound for Thailand and Mexico, as well as Middle East markets.
In a statement, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda apologized for Daihatsu’s ‘wrongdoing in the side impact test of its vehicles for overseas markets’ and said Toyota is conducting a detailed investigation to determine the cause and prevent a recurrence.
A statement on Daihatsu’s website said that in the side collision tests, the inside lining of the front seat door was improperly modified.
