Toyota's subsidiary, Hino Motors, has agreed to pay $1.6 billion (£1.3 billion) and plead guilty to deceiving US regulators regarding the emissions levels from its diesel engines.
The truck manufacturer is set to be prohibited from exporting its diesel engines to the US for five years, following charges of fraud in a Detroit court. Hino was accused of distributing 105,000 illegal engines in the US between 2010 and 2022.
The settlement is pending approval by a US court. The US Justice Department stated that Hino engaged in a "criminal conspiracy," providing false emission testing and fuel consumption data to import and sell its engines in the US.
FBI Director Christopher Wray condemned Hino's actions as an attempt to gain a competitive advantage by falsifying emissions data, violating laws that protect public health and the environment.
In addition to the import ban, Hino will implement a compliance and ethics plan over the next five years. Hino's CEO Satoshi Ogiso expressed regret for the inconvenience caused and vowed to address the issue through various programs.
The US Environmental Protection Agency disclosed that Hino will recall certain non-compliant heavy-duty trucks and replace marine and locomotive engines nationwide to mitigate excessive air emissions.
To cover legal expenses, Hino reported a 230 billion yen extraordinary loss in its second-quarter financial results.
The recent scandal echoes the "dieselgate" saga involving various car brands under the Volkswagen umbrella, which has incurred substantial costs in fines, recalls, and customer compensation exceeding 30 billion euros.