Hino to establish ‘reforms,’ announces resignation of executives after emission scandal

Hino Motors announced that it will establish “three reforms” to prevent future misconduct in relation to the correction order issued by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) after being involved in an emission scandal. 

The three reforms are management reform;  organizational culture reform; and vehicle manufacturing system reform.

In addition, select Board of Directors have resigned from their post. They are Production Division Chief Officer Makoto Minagawa, Corporate Division Chief Officer Ichiro Hisada, Hino Business Foundation Reinforcement Department and Compliance Promotion Department’s Taketo Nakane. Also renouncing his post is Engineering Division Chief Officer Kenji Nagakubo. 

Additionally, Quality Division Chief Officer Toyohisa Tamaki has been demoted. 

Some of its executives also were reassigned to new posts like Satoshi Ogiso, who will now serve as Engineering Division Chief Officer; Noboru Yamate, to become the President’s Secretary; Toyohisa Tamaki, to take up the Business Foundation Reinforcement Department Executive post; and Kunihiro Ono, who will step in as Quality Division Chief Officer and Quality Assurance Area Operating Officer. 

In its “Recurrence Prevention Report,” Hino Motors wrote, “Hino is committed to reflecting seriously on our past mistakes and implementing lasting change throughout the organization. Our previous corporate culture has called our company’s mission into question. We believe that it is a serious problem that we did not correct our ways over that period of time. We have not lived up to our social responsibilities and our actions have greatly affected our customers and other stakeholders.”

“We believe that the source of the problem was deep-rooted shortcomings in our corporate culture. We lost sight of our approach to vehicle manufacturing, and misplaced management priorities by neglecting the development of Hino’s human resources and failing to carry out our mission in the right way. We are committed to addressing this issue head on and living out our corporate mission with renewed intent: ‘To make the world a better place to live by helping people and goods get where they need to go.’ Management will take the initiative and promote reform throughout the entire company to ensure that Hino learns from its past mistakes and appropriately fulfills its social responsibilities going forward.”

 

The Toyota Motor Corporation's truck subsidiary recently found itself in hot water after reportedly rigging its emission results. The scandal saw Hino Motors receive a strict correction order from the Japanese MLIT. Additionally, Hino Motors was expelled from Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation (CJPT).

Toyota Motors, on the other hand, stated that it recognizes Hino Motors’ sincere consideration of the strict correction order from the Japanese MLIT. Toyota believes that these measures will not produce immediate results, so Hino itself must make persistent and continuous efforts over time to be reborn as a company worthy of the trust of its stakeholders.

Nevertheless, Toyota said that it will continue to support Hino Motors so that the abovementioned measures will be effective. Specifically, Toyota is looking to support Hino in areas and operations including work related to engine certification for light-duty trucks, as the company has requested. Furthermore, Toyota will share its accumulated know-how with Hino, such as in responding to those suppliers affected by the issue.

Photos from Toyota and Hino 

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