Hino Motors, a subsidiary of Toyota, has been ordered to pay over $1.6bn in fines and forfeitures for its involvement in a multi-year emissions fraud scheme.
The US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has accepted the company’s guilty plea to a charge of conspiracy to defraud the US government and consumers, as well as smuggling non-compliant goods into the country.
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Mark A Goldsmith, federal judge of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, imposed a criminal fine of $521.76m on Hino.
The court also issued a $1.087bn forfeiture money judgment against the company.
Additionally, Hino will serve a five-year probation period, during which it is barred from importing its diesel engines into the US.
The company must also implement a compliance and ethics programme with a structured reporting system.
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By GlobalDataThe US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Acting Assistant Administrator Jeffrey Hall said: “Hino falsely certified compliance with the Clean Air Act so that it could profit off Americans by sending illegal, polluting engines into the US.
“Today’s plea and sentencing demonstrates that companies who intentionally evade our nation’s environmental laws, including by fabricating data to feign compliance with those laws, deserve punishment and will be held criminally accountable.”
According to court documents, between 2010 and 2019, Hino engineers submitted fraudulent applications for engine certification approvals under the federal Clean Air Act.
The company conducted improper tests, altered emissions test data, and fabricated results without actual testing.
It also provided false carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions data, leading to inaccurate fuel consumption calculations.
Hino further failed to disclose software functions that could impact emissions control systems.
As a result of the scheme, Hino imported and sold more than 105,000 non-compliant engines between 2010 and 2022. These engines were primarily used in heavy-duty trucks sold across the US.
US Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson said: “Hino unlawfully imported over 105,000 engines that did not comply with US emissions standards and lied about what it was doing. Hino’s criminal conduct gave it an unfair business advantage over other law-abiding companies, including American companies, and generated over $1bn in gross proceeds.
“We are committed to upholding the rule of law by prosecuting fraud and enforcing our Clean Air Act emissions standards.”
In September 2024, Hino Motors unveiled it plans to close its Chinese diesel engine production subsidiary, Shanghai Hino Engine Company, due to deteriorating market conditions.
