Japan’s Toyota commercial vehicle manufacturer Hino Motors has been banned from producing vehicles equipped with related engines after it was confirmed that it manipulated engine emissions and fuel efficiency.

According to Japan’s Asahi Shimbun on the 30th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the previous day that it had canceled the “formal designation” of eight models using Hino’s engines, which were revealed to be manipulated.

It is the first time that the designation has been canceled since the system was implemented in 1951 as a measure approved by the government to maintain the performance of automobiles and produce mass.

Hino submitted manipulated data related to the exhaust gas and fuel efficiency of automobile engines sold in Japan to the government to obtain certification necessary for production.

The engine in question was installed in eight models, including Toyota’s bus, Hino’s truck and Isuzu’s bus, and production of related vehicles has been suspended since the 4th of this month.

Asahi predicted that the suspension of production could be prolonged as it would take months to acquire the format again.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also ordered corrective action (recall) for vehicles equipped with the engine.

Hino lowered its estimated profit and loss for fiscal 2021 (April 2021 to March 2022) from a surplus of 15 billion yen to a deficit of 54 billion yen due to recall costs.