Changes at top for Daihatsu

Toyota Motor Corporation has announced Masahiro Inoue will be the next president of its scandal-hit subsidiary, Daihatsu Motor, as part of an overhaul of the leadership team.

Inoue, pictured, is currently chief executive officer of Toyota Latin America but will replace Soichiro Okudaira in the top role at Daihatsu from March 1.

Changes are being made in Daihatsu’s other leading posts and its operations outside of Japan will come under closer oversight from Toyota, says Koji Sato, Toyota’s chief executive officer.

Daihatsu chairman Sunao Matsubayashi is also stepping down and his position will be left vacant under the new structure, reports Bloomberg.

The developments on February 13 came almost a year after the small-car unit, which accounted for seven per cent of Toyota’s group sales of 11.2 million vehicles in 2023, admitted it had rigged collision-safety tests.

"For Daihatsu to be reborn as the company it was meant to be, this is what we believe is necessary,” Sato adds.

Daihatsu suspended domestic production for several weeks and certification for a number of models was revoked after a government raid on its headquarters in December. 

Production of 10 models is due to resume on February 26 after the company submitted a report to officials outlining proposed measures to prevent rigging of crash-safety tests.