Hino suspends sales of more trucks due to emissions
26 August 2022
Japan’s Hino announced it is suspending sales of another medium-duty truck model equipped with HC-SCR aftertreatment. This follows the suspension of sales and/or recalls of several truck models announced in March, when the company admitted it submitted fraudulent data to obtain emission and fuel economy certifications.
On August 22, 2022, Hino announced it is suspending sales of the Hino Dutro truck, powered by the N04C diesel engine, in the Japanese market. The “N04C (HC-SCR)/2019 model has the possibility of exceeding the regulatory value of emissions,” the company said in a statement (machine translation). A total of 76,694 units of the affected Dutro model have been sold.
As was the case with the HC-SCR models that were suspended/recalled in March, the aging of the N04C (HC-SCR)/2019 aftertreatment system was conducted with the HC-SCR module removed—meaning that the certification testing was conducted using HC-SCR catalysts that were not aged. This suggests Hino engineers were aware that their HC-SCR catalysts were not durable.
The HC-SCR technology has found limited commercial use due to a variety of technical problems, including catalyst durability. The Hino DPR-II system has arguably been the most prominent commercial application of HC-SCR. The DPR-II system utilizes a silver-based HC-SCR catalyst with exhaust HC-enrichment, followed by a passive NH3-SCR catalyst. The system was introduced on several Hino engines certified to the JP2016 emission standards (NOx = 0.60 g/kWh).
Hino Motors, a major affiliate of Toyota, has launched an internal investigation into the company’s “misconduct” in regards to emission and fuel consumption certification. The investigation revealed evidence of data falsification stretching back to at least October 2003, as opposed to the previously disclosed time frame of around 2016.
Hino’s president, Satoshi Ogiso, publically apologized for the scandal. Japan’s transportation ministry, who revoked the certification of several affected engine models in March, is expected to conduct an investigation of the company.
The Hino investigative committee blamed the scandal on an environment where engineers did not feel able to challenge superiors, in an inflexible atmosphere where it was difficult for staff to feel “psychological safety”.
Source: Hino Motors