Hino to Pay $1.6B in Emissions Fraud Settlement

In a statement, Hino said it “voluntarily disclosed these issues to U.S. authorities in 2019 and has provided what the U.S. Department of Justice has called ‘exemplary’ cooperation with the DOJ’s investigation. The agreements resolve all of the Company’s outstanding legal issues in the United States related to its legacy emissions issues.”

The unlawful actions resulted in more than 110,000 diesel engines to be improperly imported and sold in the United States between 2010 and 2022. The engines were primarily installed in heavy-duty trucks manufactured and sold by Hino nationwide.

The plea agreement requires Hino to pay a criminal fine of $522 million, serve a five-year term of probation—during which it will be prohibited from importing any diesel engines it has manufactured into the United States—and implement a comprehensive compliance and ethics program and reporting structure. Hino Motors, Ltd. has also agreed to entry of a forfeiture money judgment against it in the amount of $1.1 billion. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Hino’s future payments toward its civil settlement obligations, as well future payments as part of a civil class action settlement brought by private plaintiffs, will be credited toward its criminal forfeiture money judgment obligation.

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 based on its demonstrated financial condition.

Other provisions of the civil agreement include:

• A mitigation program, valued at $155 million, to offset excess air emissions from the violations by replacing marine and locomotive engines, and installing locomotive idle reduction technology systems, throughout 49 states (excluding California), including the reduction of over 41,000 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions;
• A recall program, valued at $144.2 million, to modify engines in 2017-2019 heavy-duty trucks so they comply with U.S. and California emissions laws;
• $123.6 million to fund mitigation projects and enforcement costs in California; and
• $30.3 million to resolve California False Claims Act claims.

In a statement, Satoshi Ogiso, president/CEO of Hino Motors Ltd., said:

“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. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers and stakeholders. We take this resolution seriously and will ensure that the field fix, the Environmental Mitigation Program, and further strengthening of our compliance system, which have been agreed as part of the resolutions, are implemented.”