Hino had already admitted that he had lied to the authorities since 2016, But a closer investigation revealed that the falsification of the results of the emissions tests, carried out on the models of the Japanese brand, began in 2003. The information is disclosed by Reuters, which reveals that the analysis of the exhaust gases of the engines used in the trucks of the Japanese brand was flawed for almost 20 years.
Hino is a little-known manufacturer among us, but it is highly appreciated in several important markets, mainly because is associated with Toyota, which owns 50.1% of the brand. Hino tries to defend itself by claiming that “the company was focused on increasing sales and not on quality and compliance”. But it will suffice to make a parallel with what happened with VW, because of Dieselgate, so that the frivolity of the Japanese manufacturer becomes evident.
This Hino counterfeit ends up harming Toyota itself, without this builder having anything to do with the reprehensible conduct of his heavy duty division. It so happens that Hino uses hybrid technology in its models, technology in which Toyota is a leader, and is also developing heavy electric vehicles powered by fuel cells hydrogen, another Toyota technological asset that strategically imports so as not to be pinched.
The current president of Toyota Motor Corporation, Akio Toyoda, sent a message to his namesake at Hino, Satoshi Ogiso, reminding him that “falsifying documents betrays the trust of shareholders.” From a monster like Toyota, which owns most of Hino’s capital, a tougher stance was expected, mainly because the internal investigation into Hino, requested by the administration itself, concluded that “it is the engineers who are to blame for the fakes, who revealed that they did not feel in a position to confront the administrators,” according to Reuters.
For Hino, the solution is to change the rules of governance, which should be implemented in the next three months. However, in addition to another investigation ordered by the Japanese Ministry of Transportation, Hino carried out a memory of 47,000 vehicles manufactured as of 2017, with another 29,000 that will be called to the workshop soon. Now that the counterfeiting is known to have started in 2003 and not 2016, it is not known how many models were involved and when they will be the subject of a dealer call.
Source: Observadora
