Once again a corporate scandal is uncovered in Japan when an emissions and consumption fraud is investigated in a car manufacturer. Last on the list is Hino Motors, whose employees committed fraud towards the authorities for about 20 years.
Friday, March 4 was not a good day for Hino Motors, a Japanese truck and bus manufacturer owned 50.1% by Toyota. It came to light that there were manipulated consumption and emissions data to obtain the certification of some motors. The first victim was the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, which received false data for years and took it for granted.
The following Monday, March 7, Ministry officials entered the offices of Hino Motors, receiving more than just a blow to its credibility to the manufacturer. Hino’s shares fell within days from nearly 1,100 yen a share to 641, almost half their value. The losses came as much as allowed by the Tokyo stock market, 17% per day, the worst result in 22 years.
At first, it was estimated that some 115,000 vehicles sold in Japan would be affected, the equivalent of double Hino’s sales in fiscal year 2020-2021. Three engine models were marked as manipulated, but there were suspicions that there were more. Following a formal investigation by the ministry, the company investigated on its own and suspended sales of affected models.
Hino Blue Ribbon Hybrid
The investigations have taken months, until today. The scandal has been even fatter, because the manipulated emissions data does not go back to 2016, but to 2003, so more engines are affected. Hino Motors has published a 17-page report in which he explains all the information collected.
The origin of the problem is in the corporate culture that existed at that time, in which employees did not have the courage to tell their superiors that something could not be done, see making a certain engine comply with the emission regulations of the day. And of course, it is easier to manipulate the data so that something is possible, so as not to snub the bosses.
The workers did not feel capable of refusing their superiors
On the other hand, the report details that the managers were disconnected from the responsible workers, delving into that toxic culture -very Japanese- and committing a fraud that has taken years to uncover. Hino Motors joins an elaborate list of Japanese manufacturers that were already caught red-handed.
Hino Dutro
We are reminded of the emissions scandal at Mitsubishi Motors, which had been committing emissions fraud since the 1990s, something discovered by his partner Nissan, sinking its shares. This allowed Nissan, in a quick move, to take over a significant part of the company and come to control it. Hence, Mitsubishi entered the Renault Nissan Alliance.
But there is more, Subaru and Nissan were monitored in 2017 in case they had falsified emissions. The following year, in 2018, Japanese government sources revealed that Mazda, Suzuki and Yamaha had manipulated fuel consumption and emissions data for several of their models.
Satoshi Ogiso, the president of Hino, apologized to the reporters in the Japanese manner, bowing his head, something very significant in the culture of that country. Ogiso said that in three months the company will have a new management teamso those above have taken note of their responsibility in what happened: more than fraud, out of shame.
Hino Ranger
Hino Motors has already withdrawn from the market 47,000 units of trucks and buses manufactured between April 2017 and March 2022, and no more were manufactured as their emission certificates were revoked (normally, the data to obtain them was false). In addition, another 20,900 units will be withdrawn. This is going to be expensive.
In addition, not only Hino engines are involved, but also some models. Isuzu (Gala, Erga Duo, Gala Mio and Erga Hybrid) and Toyota (Coaster and Dina), since technological exchange between manufacturers in Japan is frequent. Affected Hino models are for road transportation such as off-road vehicles.
The manufacturer claims to have pulled the strings to prevent something like this from happening again. It is one more scandal since the Volkswagen Dieselgate surfaced in 2015 (And it wasn’t exactly the only one to circumvent regulatory controls). The Japanese modality is a little different, more than because of the evil of the middle and upper managers, it seems that it was because of the simple stupidity of the lower part of the organization chart.