The transport ministry on Thursday issued an operation correction order to Toyota Industries, saying the affiliate of Toyota Motor must strengthen its compliance over an engine data-rigging scandal.
The ministry said it also plans to revoke certificates allowing the mass production of three of its industrial engines made for forklifts and other equipment, pending the results of a hearing of the company scheduled for Thursday next week.
But the ministry said that at the moment, it has not found any misconduct that warrants revoking approval for its automobile engines.
“We will urge the company to carry out reforms so that similar misconduct never happens again,” said Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito at a news conference.
Toyota Industries President Koichi Ito said, “We take this matter very seriously. We will make utmost efforts to reform and rebuild the company.”
The Toyota affiliate in late January said a third-party panel found that it fabricated data on a wide range of its engines, both for industrial equipment and automobiles.
That included diesel engines it makes for Toyota, leading to a shipment halt of 10 models the automaker sold globally such as the Land Cruiser 300 and the Hilux.
The Toyota Group has been hit with quality issues in recent years. The automaker’s truck subsidiary Hino Motors and its small-car unit Daihatsu Motor admitted to similar data-rigging and were punished by the ministry in September 2022 and January 2024, respectively.