Hino Motors Clean Air Act Settlement Summary

On January 15, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Justice, and California Air Resources Board announced global criminal and civil settlements valued at over $1.6 billion with Hino Motors, Ltd., Hino Motors Manufacturing U.S.A., Inc., and Hino Motors Sales U.S.A., Inc. (collectively, “Hino”) for violations of the Clean Air Act related to the submission of false and fraudulent engine emission testing data.  

For over a decade, Hino Motors, Ltd. submitted misleading, incorrect, incomplete, or fabricated emissions testing data to the EPA in their applications for certificates of conformity. These violations affect approximately 105,000 model year 2010-2019 heavy-duty highway engines and approximately 5,700 model year 2011-2019 nonroad compression-ignition engines.  

As part of the global resolutions, Hino agreed to pay a $525 million civil penalty. Hino will also implement a vehicle recall program for model year 2017-2019 engines and will perform mitigation projects to offset the excess emissions caused by the violations at a total estimated cost of almost $300 million.  

Hino Motors, Ltd. also agreed to plead guilty to engaging in a multi-year criminal conspiracy. The plea agreement, which is subject to approval by the court, requires the company to pay a criminal fine of $521.76 million, serve a five-year term of probation — during which it will be prohibited from importing any diesel engines it has manufactured into the United States — and implement a comprehensive compliance and ethics program and reporting structure. Information about the criminal resolution is available on DOJ’s Hino Motors, Inc. case updates webpage. The civil and criminal settlements are subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The following provides an overview of the EPA's civil settlement.

On this page:

• About Hino Motors
• Summary of Clean Air Act Violations
• Vehicle Recall, Extended Warranty, and Promoting Future Compliance
• Federal Mitigation Program
• Civil Penalty
• Comment Period
• Contact Information

About Hino Motors

Hino Motors, Ltd. (HML), a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, is a Japanese engine manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo. HML manufactures commercial vehicles and heavy-duty diesel engines in Japan, including the engines at issue in this case. Hino Motors Manufacturing U.S.A., Inc. and Hino Motors Sales U.S.A., Inc. are subsidiaries of Hino Motors, Ltd. 

Hino Motors Manufacturing U.S.A., Inc. (HMM) is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business located in Novi, Michigan, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of HML. HMM owns and operates a manufacturing facility in West Virginia where it installs Hino-manufactured engines into Hino-branded trucks.  

Hino Motors Sales U.S.A., Inc., (HMS) is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Novi, Michigan, and is a 50%-owned subsidiary of HML. HMS is responsible for the marketing, sales, and distribution of Hino trucks in the United States.  

Summary of Clean Air Act Violations

The Clean Air Act requires vehicle and engine manufacturers to demonstrate that their products meet air pollution emission standards to obtain certifications, called “certificates of conformity,” Allowing them to import vehicles and engines and sell them in the United States. As part of the certification process, manufacturers are required to conduct emissions testing and submit test data demonstrating compliance with the applicable standards. Manufacturers are also required to disclose and explain any software functions that could affect the emission control systems. Vehicles and engines are only covered by certificates of conformity if they conform to the manufacturer’s certificate application in all material respects. 

Between 2010 and 2019, Hino submitted applications to the EPA to obtain certificates of conformity for over 50 engine families. In conducting emissions testing for these applications, Hino regularly altered test data, conducted tests improperly, or entirely fabricated test data without conducting the required tests. Hino then submitted this incorrect, incomplete, or fabricated data to the EPA in their applications. Additionally, Hino failed to disclose software functions that could adversely affect engines’ emission control systems. As a result, Hino’s engines did not conform in all material respects to the designs submitted in their applications, and thus the engines were not covered by the certificates of conformity.  

EPA discovered Hino’s noncompliance as a result of conducting confirmatory testing of Hino’s engines. On January 10, 2025, EPA voided the certificates of conformity for Hino’s 2010-2019 heavy-duty highway engines and model year 2011-2019 nonroad compression-ignition engines — the largest voiding action ever taken by EPA.  

Vehicle Recall, Extended Warranty, and Promoting Future Compliance

Under the settlement, Hino must develop a recall program for Hino trucks containing model year 2017-2019 J05E and J08E engines and implement various corporate governance measures to reform their organizations to promote compliance with United States and California environmental laws.  

Hino must submit a recall proposal to EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for approval within eight months from the date of lodging of the settlement. EPA and CARB will review the proposed recall through their normal administrative process. The recall proposal may include both software and hardware modifications to bring Hino trucks with model year 2017-2019 engines into compliance with the applicable emissions standards. Hino must apply the emissions modification to at least 85% of the engines eligible for the recall program within three years of approval of a recall or face substantial penalties.  

If a recall is approved, eligible vehicle owners and lessees will receive notification directly from Hino or one of its dealers. The vehicle owner or lessee may then schedule an appointment to have the emissions modification applied to their vehicle at no cost to the owner. The emissions modification is voluntary, and vehicles do not need to have the emissions modification applied to be registered.  

Please note that a separate consumer class action settlement, Express Freight International et al. v. Hino Motors, Ltd. et al., in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, resolves claims by owners and lessees related to the noncompliant Hino engines. For more information on the class action and settlement, see Hino Class Action Settlement. 

Under that class action settlement, all owners of Hino trucks with affected engines are eligible for an extended warranty from Hino covering the engines’ emissions control systems. These warranties are incorporated into the joint EPA-California federal consent decree.  Under the federal consent decree, a further extended warranty will also be available for any Hino truck that receives the emissions modification as part of the recall program.  

More information on the extended warranties can be found on Hino’s webpage. 

Federal Mitigation Program

The in-use operations of the engines are estimated to have emitted more tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) than allowed under the regulatory standards. Nitrogen oxides and particulate matter are associated with a range of serious health effects, including asthma attacks, respiratory illnesses, and other respiratory-related or cardiovascular-related effects, including damage to lung tissue and premature death. Children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing respiratory disease are particularly at risk of health effects from exposure to these pollutants.  

As part of the settlement, Hino must design a federal mitigation program, that will reduce emissions by at least 41,941 tons of nitrogen oxides, 376 tons of particulate matter, 6,199 tons of carbon dioxide and 135 tons of nitrous oxides. The set of projects will involve repowering or replacing outdated locomotive and marine engines with newer, cleaner technology and installing idle reduction technology on locomotives. Specifically, Hino is expected to replace over 30 locomotive and marine engines that either were produced before the EPA emission regulations came into effect or were certified to earlier emission standards with engines certified to current standards, and to install idle reduction technology on over 130 additional locomotives. The federal mitigation program is estimated to cost $155 million. 

These projects across the nation (excluding California) will fully offset the lifetime excess emissions of all violative engines. In addition, under a separate partial consent decree and settlement agreement with California, Hino must make a payment of $111,871,969 to be used by CARB to mitigate emissions in the state.   

Civil Penalty

Hino will pay a civil penalty of $525 million, based in part on its demonstrated financial condition. The civil penalty also resolves civil claims by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). 

Comment Period

The proposed civil settlement, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. Information on submitting comment is available on DOJ’s Proposed Consent Decree web page. 

Contact Information

For legal questions: 

Meetu Kaul 
Senior Legal Advisor 
Office of Civil Enforcement 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
Kaul.meetu@epa.gov 

Kayla Steinberg 
Attorney-Advisor 
Office of Civil Enforcement 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
Steinberg.kayla@epa.gov  

Ian Altendorfer 
Attorney-Advisor 
Office of Civil Enforcement 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
Altendorfer.Ian@epa.gov 

For technical questions:  

Eleanor Kane 
Engineer 
Office of Civil Enforcement 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
Kane.eleanor@epa.gov