Shares of Toyota, Mazda, Honda and Suzuki fall after safety scandal

Shares of Mazda, the country’s second-largest automaker, fell 7.7% in the same period and lost 80.33 billion yen, or $511.8 million in market capitalization, last week.

The extensive inspection carried out by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism also revealed irregularities in certification applications filed by other automakers Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha.

Last week, shares of Honda fell 5.75%, Yamaha Motor fell 2.2% and Suzuki Motor fell 0.3%.

Shares of all these companies were trading higher on Monday. Toyota increased by 1.7%, Honda by 2.13% and Mazda by 1.7%. Suzuki and Yamaha were also slightly higher.

All five companies had submitted false test data or, in the case of Toyota and Mazda, falsified the vehicles used in the crash tests.

Toyota announced on June 3, following the ministry’s investigation report, that it would temporarily suspend shipments and sales of three models currently manufactured in Japan, namely the Corolla Fielder, Corolla Axio and Yaris Cross.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda apologized to the company’s customers and stakeholders, acknowledging that seven of its models had been “tested using methods that differ from the standards set by national authorities.”

In addition, Mazda announced that it had suspended the Roadster RF and Mazda 2 models from May 30.

Both companies, however, said customers can still continue driving their cars.

The Transport Ministry said it would carry out on-site inspections at the five companies where misconduct was reported.

The inspection of Japanese automakers comes after Toyota’s Daihatsu subsidiary announced in December that it would stop shipments of all its vehicles overseas and in Japan. It follows an investigation into a safety scandal that found problems in some 64 models, including 22 sold under the Toyota brand.

Daihatsu said in April last year that it had rigged side-impact safety tests on 88,000 small cars, most of which were sold under the Toyota brand.