Japanese transport officials inspected Toyota's headquarters Tuesday after the top-selling automaker and four others including Honda and Mazda admitted failure to fully comply with national vehicle inspection standards.
Five representatives visited the offices in central Aichi region to probe breaches declared by the company related to domestic shipment certifications.
The transport ministry on Monday told five Japanese auto giants -- Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Suzuki and Yamaha -- to stop delivering the affected vehicle models within Japan.
Toyota and others have stressed that the vehicles in question are safe and in some cases passed internal tests that were stricter than the standardised requirements.
鈥榃e will carry out on-site inspections鈥� at each of the companies, transport minister Tetsuo Saito told reporters.
鈥楾hese acts erode the trust of vehicle users and shake the very foundation of the vehicle certification system. It is extremely regrettable,鈥� he said on Tuesday.
The sprawling scandal has sparked soul-searching within the country's huge auto industry, following safety test irregularities at Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu.
That firm in December admitted manipulating tests since at least 1989 and the government ordered it to halt all factory operations -- dealing a blow to the world's number four economy.
Its shipments resumed in April after the order was lifted.
In the wake of the Daihatsu scandal, the transport ministry told 85 automakers and parts suppliers to seek out and report breaches related to certification applications.
Then companies including Toyota separately said they had not followed Japanese standards to the letter.
The finance and industry ministers have voiced concerns about the incident's impact on the economy, including how shipment suspensions could affect parts suppliers.
An earlier report adds: Toyota said Monday it had suspended domestic shipments of three car models after falling foul of government certification rules along with its Japanese rivals Honda, Mazda, Suzuki and Yamaha.
The transport ministry told the companies to stop delivering certain models within Japan after they reported failures to follow standardised steps to certify vehicles for shipment.
On-site inspections will also be carried out, it said.
鈥業t is extremely regrettable that additional wrongful acts have been revealed,鈥� a ministry statement said on Monday.
These 鈥榰ndermine the trust of users and shake the very foundation of the vehicle certification system鈥�, it said.
Toyota said it would suspend shipping of the Corolla Fielder, Corolla Axio and Yaris Cross after reporting inadequate data in pedestrian and occupant protection tests.
The world's top-selling automaker said ongoing internal reviews had also found four other models no longer in production were 鈥榯ested using methods that differed from the government standards鈥�.
Toyota's board chair Akio Toyoda apologised to its customers during a press conference but assured them that the vehicles 鈥榩assed legally set standards.鈥�
Honda said it had found 鈥榠nappropriate鈥� data entry in tests related to noise and engine power regarding vehicles sold in the past.
But it also stressed that its vehicles were safe and had passed corporate standards, and current models are not affected.
In recent months, Toyota's truck and bus brand Hino has been hit by a scandal over rigged tests of its engines in Japan.
Meanwhile, its affiliate Toyota Industries did not conduct proper output testing for the certification of three diesel engine models.
Toyoda said in January it would 鈥榯ake time to recover the trust back from our customers鈥� and promised to lead a 鈥榯ransformation鈥�.
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