Toyota Yaris Cross exports could be delayed until July 2024 – UPDATE
Reports out of Japan claim the shipping halt impacting the Toyota Yaris Cross could last into July, with more than 600 Australian customers potentially affected.
UPDATE, 7 June 2024, 6:40pm: Toyota Australia has resumed customer deliveries of the Yaris Cross after confirming the model meets local standards and certification requirements.
While the pause on exports out of Japan is understood to remain, Toyota will begin deliveries to Australian customers from its current stock of vehicles.
To read the latest update and a statement from Toyota Australia, click here.
Our original story continues unchanged below.
7 June 2024, 2:00pm: A delivery pause of the Toyota Yaris Cross SUV could continue into July 2024, following an order from the Japanese Government.
Local newspaper Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun reports the country's Ministry of Transport could wait to lift a shipping halt next month, with the results of an investigation into 85 companies expected to be released in mid-July.
Earlier this week, Toyota Australia confirmed to Drive it had paused deliveries of the Yaris Cross, following reports Japanese authorities had placed a stop on the exporting of some models.
Toyota was one of four car companies named by investigators found to have supplied fraudulent information to the Japanese Government relating to safety, emissions, noise, braking, and crash tests.
Mazda, Honda, and Suzuki were also named in the investigation by the Japanese Ministry of Transport.
"Toyota Australia has implemented a temporary pause on customer deliveries of Yaris Cross," a spokesperson for Toyota Australia told Drive in a written statement issued on 4 June 2024.
"We take the certification of our vehicles extremely seriously and are working closely with the regulatory authorities.
"We are advised that none of the Yaris Cross SUVs currently for sale or operating on Australian roads has any safety or performance issues," the statement read.
Above: Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda. Credit: Toyota Times.
"Customers can continue to drive their vehicle."
While Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda issued a public apology for the company's actions, he clarified that only six violations were discovered out of tens of thousands of tests – with the Yaris Cross being the only vehicle on sale in the Australian market.
However, according to Mr Toyoda, many of the safety tests had been completed to a higher standard than those specified by the Japanese Government, with Toyota having failed to obtain the waivers required by authorities at the time.
According to Australian sales data over 2024, the pause could affect approximately 600 customers each month waiting to take delivery of their Toyota Yaris Cross.
