TOKYO (Reuters) — Hino Motors shares tumbled more than 7% on Tuesday following a report that the scope of its announced falsification of emissions data may be larger than previously expected.
The automaker, a unit of Toyota Motor, said it and its special investigation committee would hold a news conference later in the day regarding false emissions data.
The company this year admitted to falsifying data related to emissions and fuel performance of four engines. Japan’s transportation ministry revoked the truckmaker’s certification of those engines in March.
The timing and scope of the misconduct might be wider than previously expected, the Asahi newspaper said. Hino may have taken part in cheating since the early 2000s, as opposed to a previous finding that it had done so after the autumn of 2016, the paper said, quoting unnamed people involved in the matter.
Hino has joined a string of Japanese automakers involved in improper emissions tests.
In 2018, the government said Mazda Motor, Suzuki Motor and Yamaha Motor had improperly tested vehicles for fuel economy and emissions.
Subaru and Nissan Motor were under scrutiny for the same reason the year before.
The accuracy of automakers’ emissions data was thrown into doubt in 2015 when Germany’s Volkswagen admitted that it had installed secret software in hundreds of thousands of U.S. diesel cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests and that as many as 11 million vehicles could have similar software installed worldwide.