TOKYO: Daihatsu Motor Co. has reported an operating loss of 5 billion yen for fiscal 2023, its first red ink since fiscal 1992, when Japan was in an economic slowdown following the bursting of the country’s asset bubble.

The latest loss, which followed an operating profit of 38 billion yen in fiscal 2022, is mainly attributed to the suspension of all of Daihatsu’s four domestic finished vehicle plants over its testing fraud scandal. Daihatsu booked a special loss of 70 billion yen to compensate affected parts manufacturers.

In the year ended March 2024, Daihatsu’s sales fell 20.9 pct from the previous year to 1,181 billion yen. The company managed to secure a net profit of 15 billion yen thanks to foreign exchange gains from a weaker yen, but the figure was down 80.5 pct.

The results were published in the government’s official gazette on Thursday.

According to industry data, Daihatsu’s sales of new minivehicles in Japan fell 21.6 pct to about 443,000 units in fiscal 2023, and Suzuki Motor Corp. overtook it as the country’s top seller of minivehicles for the first time in 18 years.

JIJI Press