https://www.daihatsu.com/news/2023/report_1_E.pdf

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15095552

RYUO, Shiga Prefecture--Embattled Daihatsu Motor Co. halted domestic vehicle assembly plants after admitting decades of fraudulent certification tests, alarming the municipalities, suppliers and workers that rely on the automaker as a lifeline.

Vehicle production stopped at Daihatsu plants in Ryuo, Shiga Prefecture, and Oyamazaki, Kyoto Prefecture, and a subsidiary plant in Nakatsu, Oita Prefecture, on Dec. 25.

The company’s vehicle assembly operations came to a screeching halt when its plant in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, suspended production on Dec. 26.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67822887.amp

It seems test results were falsified because of pressure to keep production rolling.
The company said it would work with its main suppliers to address the fallout from the scandal, adding that it may also help its smaller subcontractors that do not receive compensation to access support funds from Japan's transport ministry.
It also said that during the time plants are idle it would compensate 423 domestic suppliers with which it has direct business relations.
Established 1907, Daihatsu sells around 1.1 million cars per year, which make up around 10% of Toyota's 10 million vehicle sales per year.
"This first started in April where the issue was about collision tests being falsified", motor industry analyst David Bailey told the BBC's World Service. "Then, an independent commission by Toyota found more issues including air bags and speed tests.

I don't think many of the cars were sold in NA or EU.

Was it all a charade?

 

I have mixed reactions to this. On the one hand, I have little sympathy for anyone, be it an individual or a company, that falsifies test data or results. Doesn't matter what the reason is. On the other hand, in many instances (I don't know if this is one of them or not), we have layered on so many rules and requirements to so many things that it has become virtually impossible to comply with all of them. So it's not surprising when people resort to shortcuts. In some cases, it has nothing to do with trying to cover anything up, but merely with trying to get the job done. Given the specific tests mentioned here, that doesn't sound like the situation in this case, but there may well be more to it than meets the eye.

In general, we need to inject some rationality into the regulatory system and strike a balance where we keep the regs to a minimum, but enforce those regs to a maximum. From a human nature standpoint, that may simply not be a realistic goal.