Toyota Motors’ truck unit has agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $1.6 billion in civil and criminal penalties for fraudulently concealing excessive emissions from diesel engines sold in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday. .
For more than a decade, Toyota subsidiary Hino Motors submitted false test data to meet pollution requirements and get approval to install diesel engines in heavy-duty trucks, the EPA said. Figures submitted by Hino also overstated the vehicles’ fuel economy, the agency said.
The criminal portion of the $522 million fine is the largest in an emissions case since Volkswagen agreed in 2016 to pay civil and criminal penalties totaling $15 billion to settle charges that it hid excessive emissions from diesel cars it sold in United States. The size of the penalties in the Hino case reflects “the flagrant conduct and flagrant disregard for EPA’s certification program,” the agency said.
California, which has stricter emissions requirements than the federal government, will receive $237 million as part of a settlement.
The EPA does not have the resources to test every vehicle sold in the United States and relies on manufacturers to provide emissions data for their products. Hino’s violations were discovered after the agency conducted its own audits, the agency said.
In a statement, the company said: “Hino voluntarily disclosed these issues to US authorities in 2019 and provided what the US Department of Justice called ‘exemplary’ cooperation with the DOJ investigation. The agreements resolve all of the company’s outstanding legal issues in the United States related to legacy emissions issues.”
Diesel engines produce large amounts of nitrogen oxides, which are linked to asthma, cardiovascular problems and other serious illnesses and contribute to climate change. Automakers use technology to control pollution, but adding it to engines makes vehicles more expensive and can affect their performance. Several car manufacturers have been caught cheating.
Hino’s misconduct involved 110,000 engines imported and installed in trucks the company sold in the United States from 2010 to 2022, the EPA said. As part of a settlement, which must be approved by a federal judge, Hino will be barred from importing diesel engines into the United States for five years. It will also recall engines in trucks from the 2017 to 2019 model years and make modifications to comply with emissions regulations.
Hino also agreed to improve its internal controls to prevent future misconduct. And the company will fund programs designed to offset excess pollution from its engines that will, for example, replace older diesel engines on 35 ships and train locomotives with cleaner engines.
The resulting reduction in pollution would be equivalent to taking 110,000 trucks off the road, the EPA said.
