UMW Toyota Motor insists customers have nothing to worry about with the Vios in relation to safety.
Over the long weekend, Toyota and Daihatsu admitted to wrongdoings in attaining regulatory approval for two vehicles that are VERY relevant to the Malaysian market.
The Japanese response was to get ahead of the situation, halt shipments of the two affected models and retest them. In Malaysia, the response is quite different.
UMW Toyota Motor confirmed that the sales of the All-New Toyota Vios will continue as they have deemed that there are no issues with the safety standards and quality of the vehicle.
President of UMW Toyota Motor, Datuk Ravindran K. said, “For customers who have booked their All-New Toyota Vios or are interested in purchasing it, we would like to assure you that the All-New Toyota Vios model complies with all safety regulations and there is no compromise to the quality of the vehicles.”
UMW Toyota Motor claims that subsequent testing has validated that the vehicle meets the UN-R95 certification and therefore there is no need for the Toyota Vios to be recalled as sales of the vehicle continues without disruption.
“We sincerely apologise for any distress caused to our customers and we wish to assure everyone of the safety and quality of our vehicles. Our commitment to our customers’ safety has always been and remains our topmost in our priority”, he added.
Key Takeaways
If you bought the new Vios, you don’t have to bring it in to a service centre, as no recall notice has been issued.
Both Perodua and UMW Toyota Motors refer to what happened as ‘procedural irregularities’ while their Japanese counterparts refer to it as ‘wrongdoings’. We wonder if this was done to legally protect them.
It’s also worth noting that UMW Toyota Motor says that ‘subsequent testing’ has been done while Perodua does not mention subsequent testing. It is unclear if ‘subsequent testing’ on the Vios was done in the 4 days since the scandal unfolded or there were tests conducted after the ‘procedural irregularities’ and before the scandal unfolded. Evidence of subsequent testing was not shared.
In the case of the Toyota Vios, the UN-R95 certification is intact because UMW Toyota claims it has been retested but in the case of the Perodua Axia, the UN-R95 certification is intact because it has not been revoked since Daihatsu’s ‘revelation’.
In my opinion, this response is largely quite defensive from both companies and not in line with their parent organisation’s direction. We still believe Axia and Vios sales will recover in the medium to long term. However, both companies need to earn customer trust back and that will require more action and time.
