Japan’s Toyota disclosed inadequate crash tests at its Daihatsu subsidiary

TOKYO — Toyota found inadequate crash tests on a model and suspended shipments, the latest in a string of embarrassing woes for Japan’s top automaker.

The latest issue, disclosed late Friday, affects 56,111 Toyota Raize hybrid vehicles manufactured by Daihatsu Motor Co., a small-model maker that is wholly owned by Toyota.

According to the automakers, 22,329 vehicles sold under the Daihatsu Rocky name are also affected. All vehicles were sold in Japan.

In faulty crash tests, results from the column used to measure the left-side crash were used on the right side when both sides were to be tested, Daihatsu said.

Just a week ago, Toyota Motor Corp. admitted that a data breach had occurred in its online Connected service, which is operated by a company belonging to the group. The breach spanned a decade, meaning driver information for more than 2 million vehicles was leaked. No violations were reported.

A separate crash test problem affecting 88,123 vehicles was disclosed last month for Daihatsu models sold abroad. According to the automakers, a further review also found irregularities in the Japanese market.

The previous problem affected the Toyota Yaris ATIV sold in Thailand, Mexico and some Gulf countries, the Perodua Axia sold in Malaysia and the Toyota Agya in Ecuador.

Daihatsu apologized at the time and set up a third-party team to investigate. He did not issue a recall, indicating the vehicles were safe to drive, but expressed deep regret for violating inspection regulations.

Toyota models were delivered by Daihatsu using the industry-wide OEM system, in which products manufactured by other companies are sold with different nameplates.

Toyota, which sells some 10 million vehicles a year, boasts an impeccable quality record centered on a manufacturing system that empowers individual workers.

The latest issues do not come with a recall. But over a decade ago, Toyota announced recall after recall covering a wide range of defects, including faulty floor mats, sticky gas pedals and brake software bugs affecting millions of vehicles.

The recall fiasco in 2009 and 2010 resulted in Toyota paying $48.8 million in fines in the United States for being slow to respond. Toyota officials have repeatedly promised to be faster and more transparent.

Management has renewed its “commitment to fair manufacturing,” the company, based in the central Japanese city of Toyota, said in a recent statement.

“All of our group companies, including Toyota, have begun a thorough review to work on fully strengthening our management system. We will work with Daihatsu to resolve the issue,” the statement said.

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Yuri Kageyama on Twitter