Toyota is facing potential penalties from Japan’s transport ministry over misconduct. Apparently, it is accused of selling emissions-cheating diesel engines that were installed in the Land Cruiser 300, the Hiace and various other vehicles. The ministry may even revoke certification for the engines in question.
According to a report from Asia Nikkei, Toyota Industries, which is the automaker’s engine-building arm, admitted in January that it had “engaged in misconduct that included tampering with performance test data for multiple automobile and forklift engine models.” The ministry has since found that the “cheating was egregious” and as such is preparing actions to de-incentivize the recurrence of the same misconduct in the future.
What exactly those penalties will look like is unknown at this point. The ministry seems to be focused solely on the misconduct related to forklift engines for now. The allegations include powerplants used in forklifts, vans, and previous generations of the Land Cruiser. In late January, Toyota suspended shipments of 10 different vehicles due to what it called at the time “certification irregularities.”
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Toyota says that it discovered the issue itself after some odd findings regarding its forklifts and that led to testing of diesels. In total, it sold some 84,000 vehicles with suspect engines beginning in 2020.
It’s planning to reshuffle its management and provide ready access to the Japanese government to confirm its new testing protocols. Any engines that the government removes certification from would have to reapply before they could be produced and sold again.
According to a video report from Bloomberg embedded below, the President of Toyota blamed insufficient communication and understanding as the main reason for the problems. The scandal won’t affect the new generation of the Land Cruiser that’s making its way to North American showrooms as we speak.