Toyota and its truck making operation, Hino have agreed to a $AUD2.56 million ($US 1.6 billion) settlement with U.S. agencies and will plead guilty over excess diesel engine emissions in more than 105,000 U.S. vehicles, the company and U.S. government said this week.
The Japanese truck and engine maker was charged with fraud in U.S. District Court in Detroit for unlawfully selling 105,000 heavy-duty diesel engines in the United States from 2010 to 2022, which did not meet emissions standards.
The settlement, which must still be approved by a U.S. judge, includes a criminal penalty of $AUD835 million ($US521 million) and $AUD 708 million ($US442.5 million) in civil penalties to U.S. authorities as well as $AUD377 million ($US236.5 million) to California.
A company-commissioned panel said in a report in 2022 that Hino admitted it had falsified emissions data on some engines going back to at least 2003.
Hino agreed to plead guilty to engaging in a multi-year criminal conspiracy and serve a five-year term of probation, during which it will be barred from importing any diesel engines it has manufactured into the U.S, and carry out a comprehensive compliance and ethics program, the US Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency said.
Assistant US attorney general Todd Kim said Hino had falsified data for years to skirt regulations.
“The company’s actions led to vast amounts of excess air pollution and were an egregious violation of our nation’s environmental, consumer protection and import laws,” Km said.
The settlement includes a mitigation program, valued at $AUD 248 million ($US155 million), to offset excess air emissions from the violations by replacing marine and locomotive engines, and a recall program, costing $AUD231 million($US144.2 million), to fix engines in 2017-2019 heavy-duty trucks.
The EPA said Hino admitted that between 2010 and 2019, it submitted false applications for engine certification approvals and altered emission test data, conducted tests improperly and fabricated data without conducting any underlying tests.
Hino president Satoshi Ogiso said the company had improved its internal culture, oversight and compliance practices.
“This resolution is a significant milestone toward resolving legacy issues that we have worked hard to ensure are no longer a part of Hino’s operations or culture,” he said in a statement.
The California Air Resources Board began an investigation in 2019 when Hino’s certification applications were reviewed and found inconsistencies in the emissions data.
“Hino knowingly took unlawful advantage of California’s incentives designed to accelerate the adoption of clean transportation technologies, which safeguard the health and safety of Californians from pollution,” said California attorney general Rob Bonta.
Hino said it booked an extraordinary loss the equivalent of $AUD2.47 billion ( 230 billion yen, or about $US 1.54 billion), in its second quarter results in October to cover the expected costs of resolving the litigation.
Over the past decade, several automakers admitted to selling vehicles with excess diesel emissions, including Volkswagen’s infamous scandal which paid more than $AUD 32 billion ($US 20 billion) in fines, penalties and settlements after it admitted in 2015 it had cheated emissions tests by installing “defeat devices” and sophisticated software in nearly 11 million vehicles worldwide.
