Truckmaker Hino expelled from Toyota-led commercial vehicle collaboration

In response to a controversy involving the truckmaker falsifying engine data, Toyota Motor and other parties involved in a commercial vehicle collaboration have ejected Hino Motors from the group, Toyota said on Wednesday.

After establishing that a particular model was involved in a major data fabrication scandal, Japan's Hino Motors will stop shipping small trucks, the company announced on Monday, underscoring the worsening issues at the Toyota division.

Satoshi Ogiso, the president of truck and bus manufacturer Hino, revealed at a news conference that more emissions-related wrongdoing was discovered during a transport ministry probe, impacting more than 76,000 vehicles. The smaller trucks, which have been sold since 2019, were thought to be unaffected by the scam until it was revealed in March.

On Monday, the benchmark Nikkei 225 share average finished down 0.5 per cent while shares of Hino sank roughly 3.5 per cent. Toyota's stock closed unchanged, reflecting how the problem has been like a festering wound for the company. Hino is owned by Toyota 50.1 per cent.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda issued a statement saying, "We are deeply upset that Hino once again breached the expectations and trust of its stakeholders.”

A statement from Hino indicated that approximately 76,694 of its Dutro small truck models were affected, bringing the total number of affected vehicles to over 640,000.

The company claimed that despite the small truck engines needing to be tested at least twice at each measuring site, they were only tested once at each location.

According to a spokesperson, Hino will halt the export of 60% of its vehicles for the year as a result of the most recent shipment stoppage. Since Toyota manufactures its engines, it will continue to export the 1.5 T truck model from Dutro, the spokeperson noted. The vehicle was only sold by Hino in 187 units for the 2021 fiscal year.

Ogiso from Hino stated that the automaker was examining the effect of the additional misbehavior on earnings and that it had not discovered any instances of vehicles exceeding pollution limits. He also stated that the violation of the rules was the cause of the misconduct.

In order to release vehicles, we as an automobile producer must have a complete awareness of the laws and regulations, according to Ogiso. "I have clarified that the wrongdoing was unintended, but I have no intention of implying that it is alright since it was unintentional," she said.

He added that it was "indefensible that the company or its special investigation committee, which had been established to look into the entire matter, had nothing to do with the discovery of the additional falsification."

In a report released this month, a company-commissioned panel claimed Hino had fabricated emissions data for some engines dating back to at least 2003, or more than a decade earlier than previously claimed.

Hino attributed the climate in which meeting deadlines and attaining numbers targets was given more importance than adhering to procedures to an internally focused business culture and a management failure to communicate with employees enough.

Following the emergence of Mitsubishi Motors' mileage-cheating scandal in 2016, the car manufacturer also misrepresented to the transport ministry that there were no illegal incidents in emissions and fuel efficiency testing at the time of certification.