Hino Motors has recently released a statement saying that it will temporarily put a stop to shipping its small trucks due to falsified data on emissions. Other reports have also stated that Hino President Satoshi Ogiso told a news conference that the additional misconduct was uncovered by an ongoing investigation by Japan’s transport ministry. With that said, this will force the Japanese truck maker to put a pause on 60 percent of planned vehicle shipments for 2022.
The root of this issue harks back to an inspection that showed that the company failed to meet emissions testing requirements for one of its light-duty engine models. The inspection also revealed that an additional 76,694 vehicles belonging to the Dutro range of small trucks are expected to be included as a result, bringing the total number of affected trucks to over 640,000. However, Hino says that the Dutro 1.5 T truck series will be exported as scheduled since its engines are made by Toyota.
The Japanese truck maker has stated that the engines for small trucks were only tested once at each measurement point, as opposed to the minimum mandated standard of two times. According to Ogiso, the company is taking steps to address this issue by assessing the expected financial impact stemming from the additional misconduct. He also added that no Hino vehicle so far was found to be exceeding the emissions limits.
We have yet to receive any information from Hino Philippines regarding the issue but we assume that the sale of its small lineup of trucks will continue as normal or until supplies last in the meantime.
We will keep you updated with the situation as more information from the developing story rolls in and we will keep you updated if any of the locally available small trucks sold by the Japanese manufacturer are affected by the current situation.
