Hino Trucks Falsified Emissions and Fuel Economy Info Class Action

This class action makes allegations about an issue that’s appeared all too often in recent years—motor vehicle companies falsifying fuel economy and emissions information. The defendants here are Hino Motors, Ltd., Toyota Motors Corporation, Hino Motors Manufacturing USA, Inc., and Hino Motors Sales USA, Inc., which does business as Hino Trucks.

The Nationwide Class for this action includes all persons and entities who bought or leased a class truck in the US, including its territories. The class trucks are at least all 2004-2021 Hino diesel trucks sold in the US and all 2004-2021 Toyota trucks sold in the US that contain the A05C, A09C, E13C, NO4C, J05D, J05E or J08E diesel engine. These include the Hino 155, 195, 238, 258, 268, 338, M series, L series and XL series of trucks.

Also proposed are state classes for each of the fifty states for all persons and entities who bought or leased a class truck in each state.

The complaint alleges that thousands of trucks sold in the US had deliberate defects that delivered more toxic emissions than permitted by law and worse fuel economy than buyers believed they were getting.

In a press release on March 4, 2022, Hino admitted to “misconduct” relating to emissions and fuel economy in its applications for certification of its vehicles in Japan, dating back to 2016. In the same press release, the complaint alleges, Hino admitted to “potential issues regarding certification testing … for the North American market.” This led to a Department of Justice investigation.

An August 2022 Hino press release blamed “management’s … creating an environment and mechanism prioritizing meeting schedules and numerical goals over due processes.”

But the complaint alleges that the problems were much more extensive than revealed in the press releases: “A report from a Special Investigation Committee of outside experts convened in the wake of Hino’s admissions has found evidence of ‘long-term misconduct concerning applications for engine certification’ dating as far back as 2003, more than a decade earlier than Hino had earlier admitted.”

The complaint alleges that Hino knew about the misconduct while it was selling the trucks. In fact, the complaint claims it paused North American production in December 2020 because of “challenges” in US engine certification testing.

According to the complaint, the scheme was accomplished in three ways:

• During testing, the complaint says, Hino used different hardware than that in the vehicles actually sold, such as a different Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system or a different exhaust system.
• Hino faked fuel economy test results, the complaint alleges, or manipulated testing to get results that appeared better than they were, for example, by changing the fuel rate calibration value of the dynamometer panel.
• The trucks had diagnostic hardware and software that did not call attention to malfunctions in the emissions systems, the complaint alleges, for example, an onboard diagnostic (OBD) system that did not tell drivers when it was time to do a chemical diesel particulate filter-cleaning process.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Automobile
Tags: Defective Automobile, Emissions, False Mileage or Emissions Figures