Toyota Appoints New Daihatsu Chief as Soichiro Okudaira Steps Down Over Safety Scandal

Toyota Motor Corporation, which wholly owns Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd., announced it has appointed a new president who will lead its troubled small vehicle manufacturing subsidiary. The Japanese firm said it made the appointment after Soichiro Okudaira stepped down from his post amid the safety cheating scandals facing the latter.

Toyota Motor picked Masahiro Inoue to replace Okudaira as president of Daihatsu Motor. Inoue is the chief executive officer of Toyota Motor's Latin American operations. According to Bloomberg, Inoue will replace Okudaira on March 1.

Onset of the Safety Controversies

The troubles at Daihatsu Motor started when a whistleblower reported cheating on safety tests to the authorities. An internal probe followed, and a review from a third-party group revealed that the company had several violations, including doing the tests on one side of the vehicle only instead of both sides. This practice was said to have been going on for decades already.

Authorities from the government also raided Daihatsu's headquarters amid the ongoing probe. This resulted in the suspension of local productions for weeks. The officials also canceled the certifications issued for some of the brand's models.

Leadership Shakeup to Reinvigorate the Company

To bring Daihatsu back on track, Toyota Motor appointed a new president, executive vice president, and one director. They will play a leading role in reforming the Daihatsu brand. According to reports, its chairman, Sunao Matsubayashi, is also leaving with Okudaira, but the chairman post will remain vacant.

Kyodo News reported that Masanoru Kuwata will become EVP at Daihatsu while Keiko Yanagi, the current deputy chief officer at Toyota Customer First Promotion Group, has been named new director.

"We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our customers, suppliers, and others for their warm words of support and to those who have worked hard toward the resumption of operations," Daihatsu Motor Company said in a press release.

The company added, "Daihatsu has decided to make the following appointments to its Board of Directors, effective March 1, 2024. From now on, under the new structure, we will thoroughly implement measures to prevent recurrence and work toward Daihatsu's future revitalization. Toyota Motor Corporation will also continue to support the new Daihatsu."

Photo by: Toyota Newsroom