A Toyota division that manufactures trucks will pay more than $1.6 billion and plead guilty to violations related to the submission of false and fraudulent engine emission testing and fuel consumption data to regulators and the illicit smuggling of engines into the United States.
Hino Motors, a subsidiary of the Toyota, first acknowledged in 2022 that it has systematically falsified emissions data dating back as far as 2003.
That was part of a broader scandal involving emissions tests that ensnared other automakers as well.
The Justice Department said that Hino’s unlawful conduct allowed it to improperly secure approvals to import and sell, and cause to be imported and sold, more than 110,000 diesel engines in the U.S. from 2010 to 2022. The engines were primarily installed in heavy-duty trucks made and sold by Hino nationwide.
“Hino knew the requirements that engines must meet to be certified to operate in the United States, yet it falsified data for years to skirt regulations,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a prepared statement. “Hino’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.”
Hino Motors Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty to engaging in a multi-year criminal conspiracy. The plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, requires the company to pay a criminal fine of $521.76 million, serve a five-year term of probation — during which it will be prohibited from importing any diesel engines it has made into the U.S. — and implement a comprehensive compliance and ethics program and reporting structure.
Hino has also agreed to a forfeiture money judgment against it in the amount of approximately $1.1 billion. As part of the plea deal, Hino’s future payments towards its civil settlement obligations, as well future payments as part of a civil class action settlement brought by private plaintiffs, will be credited towards its criminal forfeiture money judgment obligation.
The Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency, FBI, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and State of California reached criminal and multiple civil resolutions with Japanese Hino, which are subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
In separate civil resolutions of environmental, customs and fuel economy claims by the federal government and the State of California, Hino will pay a civil penalty of $525 million.
Hino, as part of its plea agreement, admitted to submitting and causing to be submitted false applications for engine certification approvals between 2010 and 2019. The company also admitted that it submitted fraudulent carbon dioxide emissions test data.
Hino said in a statement on Thursday that its agreements resolve all of the company’s outstanding legal issues in the U.S. related to its legacy emissions issues.
“We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers and stakeholders. In order to prevent a recurrence of this kind of issue, we have implemented company-wide reforms, including meaningful improvements to our internal culture, oversight, and compliance practices,” CEO Satoshi Ogiso said.
