Toyota Truck Subsidiary Hino Motors said it had falsified emissions data and an Australian law firm was investigating a potential class action.
This month, Hino released a summary of the report based on the findings of the Special Investigative Committee consisting of outside experts, convened in March.
The Commission’s investigation revealed longstanding misconduct related to engine certification applications dating back to 2003, with Japan News Some 860,000 vehicles are reported to be affected.
Bannister Law, which has launched class-action lawsuits against companies such as Volkswagen, is urging Australians who own or rent 2004-21 Hino cars to contact the agency about a potential class action suit power.
It plans to investigate the application of the Australian report’s findings “which may violate fuel emissions and disclosure regulations for consumers and vehicle operators”. .
It specifically cites the Road Vehicle Standards Act (2018) and the Motor Vehicle Standards Act (1989).
A class action lawsuit has been filed in the US, with the plaintiffs demanding damages, damages and cancellation of the sales contract.
In its summary of the report, Hino’s Special Investigations Committee blamed “management’s failure to engage adequately with the frontline workforce, creating an environment and mechanism that prioritized meetings and numerical goals than due processes”.
“The Company’s culture of introversion and conservatism also prevents each employee from doing his or her job with a spirit of participation and solidarity,” the report said.
“Hino also lacks awareness and mechanisms to manage its business as a corporate entity, for which Hino believes its management is responsible.
Hino added, “Hino will take comprehensive measures to ensure that these problems never recur in the future,” adding that it will work to regain the trust of the parties. relate to.
Hino said it “deeply apologizes for causing significant inconvenience and concern to customers, shareholders, investors and other stakeholders”.
Satoshi Ogiso, the president of Hino, publicly apologized.
When announcing the formation of the investigative committee in March 2022, Hino said it would suspend sales of vehicles with A05C medium and heavyweight A09C and E13C engines in Japan.
It admitted misconduct related to falsifying data related to emissions endurance tests for the A05C engine and fuel economy data for the other two engines. It also identifies engines with performance problems.
In addition, they admitted to having fuel economy problems with their N04C light engine, although they said they found no wrongdoing.
Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) later revoked the type certificates for vehicles equipped with these engines, preventing Hino from selling them.
At the time, Hino said the misconduct had started with certification procedures for 2016 emissions regulations.
To test game emissions, Hino employees did things like replacing the car’s silencer and changing the dynamometer’s fuel flow rate correction value.
The Commission then found the problems were more extensive, and dated back to vehicles released at the time the 2003 emissions regulations came into force with the aim of ensuring they were adequate. conditions for enjoying tax incentives.
It detects incorrect Hino measurements, stops endurance tests prematurely or doesn’t perform them, changes ECU settings, “arbitrarily chosen values”, or changes test data and make false statements.
It listed a series of structural changes to be made at Hino, including an expanded compliance department, a stronger internal reporting system, and better record keeping.
With MLIT revoking the type certificate for the additional engine, Hino had to extend the recall by 20,000 vehicles to 47,000.
Hino is just the latest manufacturer to be accused of falsifying emissions data.
Earlier this month, Stellantis subsidiary FCA US LLC was ordered by a US federal court to pay more than $400 million for using emissions cheating equipment.
Total 101,482 Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee 2014 to 2016 vehicles equipped with the second-generation EcoDiesel V6 engine are affected.
It is the latest in a long line of allegations of emissions cheating by automakers, of which Volkswagen’s actions – commonly known as Dieselgate – are perhaps the most scandalous.
