Falsification of Crash Test Results by Japanese Carmaker and Impact on Cars in Singapore

Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether the admitted falsification of crash test results by a Japanese carmaker impacts cars that are sold and driven in Singapore; and (b) if so, what investigation or course of action will the Ministry take in that regard.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is aware of the admitted falsification of crash test results by a Japanese vehicle manufacturer – Daihatsu – and has taken action to identify whether any of the affected cars are sold and driven in Singapore.

First, LTA cross-checked against its vehicle records and found that none of the affected vehicles, based on the published chassis numbers by the vehicle manufacturer, have been registered in Singapore to date.

Second, the relevant motor dealers have confirmed that they did not sell any of the affected vehicles.

Mr Speaker, I thank the Senior of Minister of State. It is good to know that the chassis numbers are zero literally.

But can I clarify again? Because I read that the falsification reports affect 64 models across a few different brands – Daihatsu, Toyota, Mazda and Subaru, based on a drive.com article on 22 December.

The question is, if it does come in, as there are risks of parallel importers bringing in these vehicles in the future, how can Singaporean motorists or even commercial or non-commercial drivers know how far back it goes? If these vehicles come in, what safety issues are in question? The question is safety issues. The article mentioned the airbag issues. Is that a concern for drivers in Singapore, because what if these vehicles come in or sneak in, one, two, three, four or five; I am not sure how many.

I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. First, let me say that this issue first surfaced in April 2023 when Daihatsu, a unit of Toyota, made a public announcement regarding procedural irregularities, firstly, to pass certification tests. This consisted of unapproved modification of door trim for side collision tests and using passengers side data as driver side data for pole-collision tests.

An independent third-party committee was then commissioned by Daihatsu in May last year to investigate these irregularities. The committee, as the Member has noted, identified 64 vehicle models, which included the Daihatsu models as well as models produced by Daihatsu but supplied as OEM models to Toyota, Mazda and Subaru, and sold as the respective makes. Three engines, including those that had already been discontinued were affected. But, as mentioned in my reply, the LTA checked and there was no vehicle registered in Singapore that fall within the affected chassis range reported in the recall of these vehicles. In fact, what happened was Daihatsu and Toyota followed up an initiated recall for their Cast and Pixis Joy models in January this year. Beyond just checking our vehicle register, we reached out to Toyota Motor Asia Pacific as well as their authorised motor dealers for the various mix to confirm that they have not sold any of these affected vehicles to date.

So, as it is, there is no cause for concern in this respect. But regardless, what is important is for the owners to maintain their vehicles regularly and then consult the dealers if they notice any safety issues.

As the Member has rightly pointed out, in future, this is an evolving issue over time. LTA will closely monitor the developments of this issue and subsequently, if we do find any affected vehicles and if they are identified, we will work with the Toyota Motor Asia Pacific as well as the relevant authorised motor dealers for the necessary follow-up actions. The follow-up actions will be that these dealers and importers are mandated under law to notify us, LTA, as well as the affected owners and then take the necessary steps to rectify the defects.

The vehicle owners can also check our OneMotoring website because we maintain an electronic vehicle recall system and the vehicle owners can check if their vehicles are affected under this system. If so, they will also be updated on the progress of the rectification works. This is also mandated by LTA that the dealers have to update the rectification works progress.

In addition, OneMotoring also has a report of all the recalls submitted over the last six months.