Toyota arm Hino makes US$1.6b deal to settle emission fraud case

US attorney-general Merrick Garland has announced a US$1.6 billion deal with Toyota subsidiary Hino. Photo / Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images via AFP

United States officials have announced a US$1.6 billion deal with Toyota subsidiary Hino Motors to settle charges it deceived regulators about the amount of emissions spewed by its diesel engines.

Hino used altered emissions test data to get approval to import and sell more than 110,000 diesel engines to the US, most of which were installed in heavy-duty trucks made by Hino, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

As part of the deal, Hino will plead guilty to engaging in a criminal conspiracy to mislead regulators and consumers, violating environmental protection laws and endangering public health, US attorney-general Merrick Garland said in a release.

US regulators and the state of California, which has strict vehicle emission standards, worked out criminal and civil remedies with Hino valued at more than US$1.6b.

“Hino’s actions directly undermined EPA’s program to protect the public from air pollution,” acting EPA administrator Jane Nishida said in a release.

The proposed settlement is contingent on approval from a US district court judge in the state of Michigan.

“Corporate crimes such as these endanger the health and wellbeing of innocent Americans, as well as the environment in which we all live,” said US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Dawn Ison.

The deal includes a five-year term of probation, during which Hino will be barred from importing diesel engines it has manufactured into the United States and made to implement a comprehensive compliance and ethics programme, according to the EPA.

Hino will also have to recall some trucks with engines violating emissions standards and spend some US$155 million to replace marine and locomotive engines through the US to offset excess air emissions, according to the EPA.

– Agence France-Presse