Toyota, Isuzu kick Hino out of CJPT partnership

The hits keep on coming for Hino Motors, Ltd. The enterprise they founded, Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation (CJPT), alongside parent companies Toyota and Isuzu has ousted Hino in light of the truck and diesel engine maker’s misconduct regarding certification testing.

CJPT was set up early last year to promote the partnership between the three companies and plan technology development and advanced truck-building. 80% of the company is owned by Toyota while Isuzu and Hino own 10% each. The goal of CJPT is to reduce emissions using a hydrogen infrastructure to power EVs (electric vehicles) and fuel cell vehicles. It also wants to further autonomous driving research while creating electric platforms for trucks. Finally, the companies will share information online to make deliveries around Japan more efficient.

Hino’s expulsion removes it from all agreements, including the joint planning agreement, and Hino's equity stake (10%) in CJPT will be transferred to Toyota. In the projects that CJPT is currently working on, such as the previously announced social implementation in Fukushima and Tokyo, Hino will play a minimal role to not cause inconvenience to CJPT's customers.

As a major shareholder of CJPT and the parent company of Hino, Toyota’s president Akio Toyota released a statement regarding the expulsion.

“As the parent company and a shareholder of Hino, we are extremely disappointed with the company's misconduct concerning the certification testing, which has greatly undermined the trust of our customers and all other stakeholders. Hino has committed misconduct in engine certification for a long time, and the company is in a situation where it is not to be recognized as one of the 5.5 million individuals in the Japanese automotive industry. CJPT is a project to build the future together, based on Japan's CASE technology. As of now, we believe that Hino's participation will cause inconvenience to stakeholders, and we have decided that it is appropriate to expel Hino from CJPT. This conclusion was reached after discussions with the companies involved. We will continue to work with our partners on the project to solve the issues facing the transportation industry and contribute to achieving a carbon-neutral society," said Toyoda.