U.S. Probe Catches Toyota Unit's Falsifying Emissions Data Since 2003

A major affiliate of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. falsified emissions data on some engines going back to at least 2003, more than a decade earlier than previously indicated, a company-commissioned probe showed on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, Satoshi Sugiyama reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Hino said it would come up with a new corporate governance system within three months.

The investigative committee tasked by truck and bus maker Hino Motors Ltd. blamed the scandal on an environment where engineers did not feel able to challenge superiors in a rare criticism of corporate culture in Japan.

The committee, composed of lawyers and a corporate adviser, was set up by Hino this year after it admitted to falsifying data related to emissions and fuel performance of four engines. Its findings, released on Tuesday, detail an inflexible atmosphere where it was difficult for staff to feel "psychological safety", the committee said in a report.

A sense of past success on the part of management helped engender the culture, said committee chairperson Kazuo Sakakibara, who was the former head prosecutor at the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office.

"The magnitude of their past successes has made them unable to change or look at themselves objectively, and they have been unaware of changes in the external environment and values," he told a briefing.

"The organization has become an ill-organized one where people are unable to say what they cannot do."

Hino's president, Satoshi Ogiso, apologized to reporters and said management took its responsibilities seriously.

He said he had received a message from Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda, who said the misconduct at Hino betrayed the trust of all stakeholders. Hino said it would come up with a new corporate governance system within three months.

The automaker said the committee had found evidence of falsification stretching back to at least October 2003, as opposed to the previously disclosed timeframe of around 2016.

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