Indonesia-made Toyota DNGA vehicles cleared for export amid safety issue

The Toyota Motor Corporation faced a rocky (no pun intended) end to the year 2023 after a new wave of safety irregularities have been found on models made by its subsidiary, Daihatsu. Those included Toyota-branded vehicles using the Daihatsu New Global Architecture (DNGA) such as the Avanza, Raize, Veloz, Vios, Yaris Cross, and the Wigo.

This forced Daihatsu to temporarily halt shipments and suspend production of models in the affected countries. But while the investigation is still ongoing as we enter the year 2024, one of our Southeast Asian neighbors making Daihatsu vehicles has been cleared to resume operations and shipments.

Indonesian authorities have confirmed the safety of Toyota products developed jointly with Daihatsu. This makes Indonesia the first country to clear Daihatsu from the safety scandal.

PT Toyota-Astra Motor (TAM) and PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN) announced an official statement, saying customers using Toyota products including those developed jointly with Daihatsu do not need to worry or take any action, and can continue to use their vehicles as usual. It is based on that all Toyota vehicles (including those developed jointly with Daihatsu) have complied with the applicable homologation regulations and processes.

It's worth mentioning that Toyota Motor Philippines sources most, if not all DNGA-based models from Indonesia. But from the start, Toyota Motor Corporation has not included the Philippines in the affected countries list.

However, the investigation is far from over, as Daihatsu plants in Japan have yet to resume production and could lose billions of yen in losses stemming from plant shutdowns and the ensuing financial compensation to its suppliers.