Australian customer deliveries of the Toyota Yaris Cross have been paused indefinitely, following an investigation into the light SUV’s Japanese safety tests.
“Toyota Australia has implemented a temporary pause on customer deliveries of Yaris Cross,” a spokesperson for the carmaker told CarExpert.
“We take the certification of our vehicles extremely seriously and are working closely with the regulatory authorities.
“We are advised that none of the Yaris Cross SUVs currently for sale or operating on Australian roads has any safety or performance issues. Customers can continue to drive their vehicle.”
As reported earlier today, Japanese government officials raised concerns about Toyota not adhering to certification requirements across multiple models, including the Yaris Cross.
Toyota claims it had undertaken safety tests which were more stringent than required by the Japanese transport ministry for certification, however it failed to obtain approval to do so.
While it waits to hear from Japanese regulators about whether the Yaris Cross is compliant, the car giant has suspended exports of the model.
Toyota reported 2582 examples of the Yaris Cross as sold in Australia between January and April 2024, making it the third-most popular light SUV, behind the Mazda CX-3 (5639 sales) and the Suzuki Jimny (3037 sales).
Other models affected by the Japanese shipment pause include the Toyota Corolla Fielder wagon and Corolla Axio sedan, both of which are popular grey imports among the Australian taxi and rideshare industry but are unrelated to the Corolla hatchback and sedan officially sold here.
MORE: Everything Toyota Yaris Cross
MORE: Toyota hit with safety standards investigation, including Australian Yaris Cross
