Japanese-based truck manufacturer Hino Motors is halting sales of medium-to heavy-duty trucks and buses with three types of engines following “misconduct” relating to manipulation of emissions test data and fuel economy performance.
The suspension of sale in Japan affects engine variants certified by the Japanese regulator which have not been sold in Australia or New Zealand. There are no implications for local markets at this time.
It concerns the falsification of engine performance data in its emissions durability testing for the A05C (HC-SCR) medium duty engine, and in the measurement of fuel economy performance in certification tests for two heavy duty engine models, A09C and E13C.
This affects around 115,526 trucks sold in Japan since 2016.
Hino, a subsidiary of Toyota, confirmed in a statement that those models also have problems in engine performance.
In addition, the company has identified a problem concerning the fuel economy performance of the N04C (Urea-SCR) light duty engine. However, no misconduct in relation to the certification testing of this engine has been identified to date.
The issues have been reported to Japan’s transport and infrastructure ministry as well as the economy, trade and industry ministry.
Following the news, the company’s shares dropped 16% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and have continued to fall.
“Hino deeply apologises for any inconvenience caused to its customers and other stakeholders,” the company says.
Hino voluntarily began the investigation after it identified potential issues regarding certification testing to determine the emissions performance of on-road engines for the North American market.
The investigation was led by outside counsel and provided an initial report of its findings to the relevant regulators. Subsequently, the US Department of Justice commenced an investigation. Hino says it’s fully cooperating with investigations by the relevant authorities.
Hino then expanded the scope of the investigation to include a review of emissions certification procedures for engines certified to Japanese regulatory standards.
In conjunction with that investigation, it has also conducted verification testing of engine performance including emissions and fuel economy.
“Hino will carefully examine the impact in terms of the tax benefits it receives for the emissions and fuel economy performance of vehicles equipped with these engines. Hino will bear the cost of any additional tax payments that may be required.
“For other engine models, at this point of time, Hino has not identified any potential emissions exceedance beyond the regulatory standard, or potential issues in relation to the reported value for fuel economy,” it says.
Hino is advising customers are not required to take any action and may continue to use their vehicle until further notice.
“Based on the findings to date, Hino believes that it failed to appropriately respond to internal pressures to achieve certain targets and meet schedules that were placed on Hino employees. Hino management takes these findings extremely seriously.
“Going forward, Hino is committed to putting compliance first,” the company says.
“Hino has already begun working on improving its governance system, including organisational restructuring and commencing a review of Hino’s internal processes and procedures. In addition, Hino will proceed to promote the compliance awareness of each employee,” it adds.
The company says it will form a special investigation committee consisting of independent outside experts to conduct an investigation to “clarify the extent of the identified issues and an in-depth analysis into the root causes”.
“In addition, the committee will propose remedial measures concerning engine development processes and best practice at Hino.
“In order to restore the confidence of all stakeholders, Hino commits to carefully reviewing the reports from the outside experts, taking effective remedial measures and reforming its corporate structure to put compliance first,” it says.
*Correction: This article originally stated that Hino Motors has halted global shipments of affected engines. It has been edited to clarify the sale suspension in Japan only affects engine variants certified by the Japanese regulator, which have not been sold in Australia or New Zealand. There are no implications for Hino trucks in New Zealand at this time. Hino NZ is continuing to monitor the situation and will keep customers informed on any relevant developments.
