(The loophole would be using premium parts in early shipments, until testing has commenced, and switching components in later shipments. Not sure if we would catch that in components like airbags. We have already had Toyota recalls due to dodgy airbags.)
US manufacturers have their own history of cheating.
Removing the xenophobia:
“We can’t trust companies for various reasons.”
As an example, it's an open secret that over 40% of all USDOT certified helmets fail to meet the standard: https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2020/02/05/2020-dot-certifi...
(The EU uses a different standard which includes independent testing of random samples).
"They said the door trim on the affected vehicles had been modified with a "notch" to minimise the risk in testing that the door interior could break with a sharp edge and cause injury to an occupant when the side airbag deployed in an accident."
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/japans...
Even then I'd understand if it was a one time thing (rush in production or design, no time to redesign) but this is systematic and across a wide range of models. I guess the other models in question had more deeply rooted design issues that can't be fixed with a less intricate tweak?
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/toyota...
>The investigation found that the airbag control units used by Daihatsu in airbag tests for some models were different from the ones used in cars sold to the public, including Toyota's Town Ace and Pixis Joy models and the Mazda Bongo.
...
>The misconduct also included false reports on headrest impact tests and test speeds for some models. The investigation found cases of misconduct were particularly prevalent after 2014 and, for one already-discontinued Daihatsu vehicle, went back as far as 1989.