KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) announced that it will carry out an assessment on the latest Perodua Axia model following reports of rigged safety test reports in Japan, although car owners here have not aired any grouses or complaints where safety is concerned.
Miros chairman, Professor Dr Wong Shaw Voon said that the assessments would be carried out on the latest Perodua Axia model produced by Perodua to ensure the safety of the cars after Daihatsu Motor Co. Ltd. (Daihatsu) tampered with the safety tests in Japan.
"We have not received any complaints so far, but we will look into Perodua's claims," Wong told local news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT).
This is after Perodua president and chief executive officer, Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad gave assurances on April 30 that the new range of Perodua Axia models were safe for driving.
The Perodua Axia is a result of a joint venture between Perodua and Japanese automaker Daihatsu, who revealed recently that about 88,000 cars had undergone side collision safety tests that were rigged.
Most of the 88,000 affected cars, sold under the Toyota brand, namely the Toyota Yaris models, were bound for Thailand, Mexico and Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
The Gulf Cooperation Council comprises Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
Daihatsu claimed that it found out the safety tests were rigged after a whistleblower report and the Japanese automaker proceeded to report the issue to regulatory agencies.
Shipment of the affected models have been stopped and will only resume after new safety tests in the presence of regulators can confirm the safety of the models.
Zainal stated that Perodua would not be carrying out any recall exercise or suspending deliveries for the Axia model to their customers.