Japanese truck and bus maker Hino has revealed some of the damage the fallout from its much publicised emission and fuel consumption fraud, that was uncovered in 2022, with the Toyota subsidiary revealing it has ripped up the equivalent of $AUD 2.12 billion (¥219.5 billion) in what was a record net loss for the April-to-September quarter.
The company admitted in an explanation to the Nikkei that the costs incurred abroad related directly to the test data falsification scandals.
Hino, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor, cited settlement fees to US authorities and plaintiffs in lawsuits in Canada with the company booking the account as an extraordinary loss.
Hino revealed two years ago that it had submitted fabricated data to the Japanese government, with the firm falsifying emission and fuel economy figures on certain types of engines for around 20 years.
Signalling that this loss may not be the only cost involved with the scandal, Hino says additional costs may arise depending on the outcomes of other lawsuits.
Hino’s chief financial officer, Nakano Yasushi said the scandal has had a major impact on the company, but that it has weathered the crisis and said Hino is now considering ways to raise funds, and that it will announce a plan in due course.
Hino said it expects to report a net loss of around $AUD2.19 billion (¥220 billion) for the full year ending next March, which is the close off for the Japanese financial year Comparing the giant loss for the quarter just gone with the same period last year shows the company had booked a profit of $AUD 750,000 (¥76million)
Hino director Naoki Sato apologised to shareholders at a virtual press conference, in which CEO Satoshi Ogiso was absent.
The absence of the CEO has raised eyebrows in Japan and added to the arguments about Toyota’s influence on the scandals and the massive losses. The result could add to the speculation that the possible merger between Toyota’s Hino and Daimler’s Fuso brands is on shaky ground and that the negotiation table has been a fierce battleground between the two automotive giants, with the scandal weighing heavily on the Germans at Daimler.
While former Toyota president Akio Toyoda blamed Hino culture on the scandal, it has since become apparent that Toyota’s controlling influence on Hino commenced prior to the start of the falsifications and that Hino’s CEO/president and many senior executives have held the most important positions with in the subsidiary truck brand were Toyota appointments and many came from the ranks of the car company.
The Hino results saw Toyota’s shares fall dramatically, wiping about $AUD 28.1 billion (¥2.9 trillion ) off the company’s market capitalisation, with the shares falling for three days straight, devaluing the share value by more than five per cent.
The Toyota woes followed a week when the testing scandals spread across the Japanese automotive industry . along with Toyota counterpart Mazda and three other companies disclosed widespread misconduct when it came to gathering data used to apply for model certification.
This comes after Japan’s Transport Ministry ordered 85 companies in the sector including, car, truck and component makers to investigate whether there had been any irregularities such as those perpetrated by Toyota, Hino or the smaller subsidiary Daihatsu.
