Toyota, the leading Japanese automaker, experienced significant losses on the Nikkei 225 index on Thursday, closing with a 4% decrease. This decline came as a result of Toyota’s announcement of a recall of approximately one million vehicles. The safety recall specifically affected certain Toyota and Lexus models from 2020-2022 in the United States.
Furthermore, this decline in stock value follows the decision by Toyota’s subsidiary, Daihatsu, to halt vehicle shipments on Wednesday. An investigation revealed safety issues with Daihatsu cars, including discrepancies between airbag control units used in tests and those actually sold to customers. An independent panel had been conducting an investigation into Daihatsu since April when it acknowledged manipulating side-collision safety tests for 88,000 small cars, the majority of which were sold under the Toyota brand.
The repercussions of the safety scandals at Toyota were felt beyond the company itself, as Japan’s broader Nikkei 225 plummeted by 1.50% on Thursday, while the Topix index fell 0.9%. These declines were part of a broader downturn in the Asia-Pacific markets, following a drop in Wall Street the previous day.
Source (CNBC)
