Tacoma

Make
Toyota
Segment
Sports Car

Hino Motors has admitted to faking emissions test results on diesel truck engines for a shocking 20 years.

Hino Motors is part of the Toyota group, though it does not produce trucks like the Toyota Tacoma, available for consumer purchase. Instead, Hino makes industrial and commercial trucks

"I am so deeply sorry," President Satoshi Ogiso said while mid-bow at a press conference. "Unfortunately, misconduct had been carried out for a widespread variety of models." The company's statement said it apologized for the "significant inconvenience" it caused customers and stakeholders.

Ogiso said Hino engineers were building diesel engines they knew wouldn't pass emissions but were pressured to the point that the teams faked test results. Ogiso relayed that the teams kept lying about their work to cover their wrongdoings, creating a circular pattern of deception and faked emissions tests as far back as 2003.

Hino's sweeping and independently-led 17-page report also states that "misconduct was found relating to fuel efficiency measurements mainly in heavy-duty [diesel] engines after the introduction of the 2005 emissions regulations." Investigators also found misconduct in emissions-related durability tests for a range of industrial diesel engines after new regulations took effect in 2011. Hino, half of which is owned by Toyota, has also been working with Isuzu, Yamamoto Transport, and its parent company on cartridge batteries for electric vehicles.

Hino's statement said that the company's "inward-looking and conservative culture also prevented each employee from carrying out his or her work with a sense of involvement and solidarity." The company's Special Investigation Committee laid the blame squarely on management, saying "Hino believes its management bears responsibility."

Members of the committee said that management did not properly engage with frontline workers, instead putting deadlines above proper operating procedures. The company, of course, has said that it takes the findings very seriously and will introduce measures to prevent this from happening again.

As for Ogiso, he promised at the press conference to better educate Hino's employees while working to create a more open, healthy corporate culture. Ogiso said that these issues are not just with the teams that had been faking emissions and that the issue is company-wide. The company's president acknowledged the detrimental cultural conditions within the company, saying he was "determined to see that we are reborn, and we carry that out in clear action."

Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda also issued a statement, which Ogiso read at the conference, saying "The wrongdoing at Hino betrayed the trust of customers and other stakeholders. I deeply regret what has happened."

As of now, Hino has recalled 67,000 of its vehicles in Japan in relation to the findings. However, the number of affected vehicles is far greater than that, numbering close to 300,000 per the company's statement. It is unclear if President Ogiso or other executives will resign or take responsibility in some way. Hino also sells trucks and busses here in the United States, Canada, and across Europe. Hino has said it is cooperating with investigations by US and European authorities.