Hino to Resume Shipments of Profia Truck

Jiji Press

15:34 JST, February 1, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Hino Motors Ltd. has said that it will resume shipments of some Profia large trucks in mid-February, after they were suspended following engine testing fraud.

The commercial vehicle maker affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp. reacquired the certification necessary for shipments from the transport ministry on Tuesday. It is the first time that a Hino vehicle model has regained certification in the testing scandal.

After the restart, domestic shipments are seen recovering to around 60%-75% of the fiscal 2021 level, after falling to almost zero at one point.

Shipments will be resumed for Profia trucks that are equipped with the engine for which fuel efficiency data was falsified. Sales of the truck totaled some 9,300 units in fiscal 2021.

Hino halted shipments in March 2022 and reapplied in November that year for the necessary certificate, which had been revoked.

The company also plans to resume shipments of the Selega, having reapplied for the certificate for the large tourism bus model Friday.

The automaker does not yet have plans for reacquiring certificates or resuming shipments for Profia trucks with larger engine displacements and Ranger midsize trucks, both of which have been found to exceed emissions limits by a higher amount.

Endurance tests for the vehicles, which usually take seven to nine months, have yet to be completed.