Toyota is driving a dangerously fine line
04/06/2024 03:53
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are her own.)
By Katrina Hamlin
HONG KONG, June 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The world's
largest automaker shed some $8 bln of market value after
revealing problems in testing procedures. It's not all bad, but
it adds to a heap of governance gripes ahead of this month's
AGM. And probes may yet uncover more. Chair Akio Toyoda looks
particularly exposed.
Full view will be published shortly.
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CONTEXT NEWS
Japan's transport ministry is to conduct an on-site inspection
at Toyota Motor's headquarters on June 4 after the carmaker and
rivals Mazda Motor, Yamaha Motor, Honda Motor and Suzuki Motor
revealed they had found irregularities in applications to
certify certain models. Toyota and Mazda are both halting
shipments of some models.
The ministry had ordered the companies to carry out the
probes after similar issues surfaced last year at Daihatsu
Motor.
Toyota executives said in a press conference on June 3 that
problems occurred during six different tests conducted in 2014,
2015, and 2020.
A Toyota spokesperson added that the company is still
investigating issues related to vehicle fuel efficiency and
emissions, and aimed to complete the inquiry by the end of June.
Toyota Motor's shares fell 1.76% to 3341 yen on June 3.
Shares fell as further 1.2% in early morning trading on June 4.
(Editing by Antony Currie and Aditya Sriwatsav)
((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on HAMLIN/ katrina.hamlin@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters
Messaging: katrina.hamlin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))