Toyota shares experienced the biggest drop in 1.5 years

Shares of the Japanese car company Toyota are showing a significant decline – the most significant in the last year and a half. 

The reason for this was the actions of the Japanese Ministry of Transport, which began checking the offices of a subsidiary of Daihatsu Motor due to a scandal related to car safety. In addition, it became known that Toyota also recalled 1 million cars in the United States due to problems with airbags.

At the opening of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on December 21, Toyota shares fell at a low of 5.6% compared to the previous close, which is the largest drop since May 2022. By the close of trading in Tokyo, the decline slowed to 4.03%, when the share price was 2,537.5 yen (about $17.7). Toyota shares lost 2.18% in value on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. On the premarket, their cost is $177.7 (-1.24%).

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan conducted searches at the headquarters of Daihatsu in connection with violations related to the safety of the company's vehicles. Earlier in April, Daihatsu discovered flaws in side-impact crash tests for four models, as a result of which an independent commission was established to investigate. 

In December, this commission found 174 new violations in addition to those discovered in the spring. Because of this, Toyota has decided to suspend deliveries of all Daihatsu models both in Japan and abroad.