Hino Motors Settles with U.S. Authorities over Scandal

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)--Hino Motors Ltd. said Thursday that it has reached a settlement with U.S. authorities to pay a total of roughly 1.2 billion dollars, or about 187 billion yen, in fines over the Japanese automaker’s engine testing scandal.

Hino has already booked 230 billion yen in special loss for settling the matter with U.S. authorities and other expenses, and is reassessing the impact on earnings.

It hopes to accelerate discussions on a management integration with Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp., which had been postponed, now that the scandal is on track to be resolved in the United States.

“The resolution is a significant milestone toward resolving legacy issues,” Hino President Satoshi Ogiso said. “In order to prevent a recurrence of this kind of issue, we have implemented company-wide reforms.”

Hino was found in 2022 to have tampered engine exhaust and fuel efficiency data, including for vehicles sold overseas. The U.S. Justice Department and others were investigating the matter.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]