Hino Motors’ Engine Fraud Covers 560,000 vehicles

FAR EAST: JAPAN REPORT
Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

Hino Motors has announced that the falsification of diesel engine emission values, which was previously announced in March, had been taking place since at least 2003 or earlier. The company had previously stated that the fraud began in the fall of 2016. In 2016, the company also revealed that it had falsely reported to the MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism) in response to its request for a fact-finding survey on exhaust gas and fuel efficiency tests.

Source: The Nikkei

PSR Analysis: Although I do not wish to make such negativity a theme, I cannot overlook this issue. The impact on the industry of the fraud at Hino, which has the top share of the medium- and heavy-duty truck sector in Japan, is significant. Isuzu has suspended shipments of four bus models that use Hino engines. Not limited to the automotive field, Tadano cranes, Kobelco hydraulic excavators, Hitachi Construction Machinery wheel loaders, and Kato rough terrain cranes have also been forced to suspend shipments after the problem came to light.

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DATAPOINT: 2021 NA Motorcycle Production

Today Joe Delmont presents the 2021 forecast for Motorcycle production in North America. This forecast has been developed by Carol Turner, Senior Analyst of Global Operations at Power Systems Research. Carol provides annual production forecasts for important equipment applications.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.

00:06

From Power Systems Research I’m Joe Delmont, editor of PSR PowerTALK. Today we’ll discuss a datapoint covering 2021 North American production of on-road motorcycles.

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Recession May Come Before CASE Is Realized

GUEST EDITORIAL


President and Founder, Japan Electrification Research Institute, Ltd.

SUMMARY. The global auto industry is bubbling with changes and dramatic new ideas, but the current declining financial performances of Japanese auto OEMs may force them to drop out of the race temporarily before they can take advantage of the growing demand for autonomous vehicles.

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North America Economy Faces Multiple Problems

Jim Downey
Jim Downey

SUMMARY. The United States economy is facing several serious problems that don’t have simple solutions and are not likely to be solved for several years, reaching out to the presidential elections in 2024.

Take your pick of problems: Inflation. Stock Market. Climate Changes. Interest Rates. Housing Prices. Gasoline Prices. Food Prices. Social Unrest. Political Conflicts. Worker shortages. Supply Chain Shortages. Russia-Ukraine Conflict.

The bottom line here is that consumers, investors, businesses, and governments are uncertain about what the future holds for the next several years, and this uncertainty makes it difficult to build multiple-year action plans, whether it’s for purchases, manufacturing, marketing, or investing.

Uncertainty makes people nervous, and Uncertainty is the name of the game in the U.S. for the foreseeable future.

However, we’re still optimistic about the U.S. economy and we see 2022 production growing by 11.6% but that activity is likely to fall to 2.7% next year and drop again to 1.5% in 2024.

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PowerTALK News, August 2019

North America Economy Slows and Shifts

The August 2019 issue of PowerTALK News, the monthly report of world news and analysis from Power Systems Research, contains an economic outlook report for North America and a guest editorial by Mr. Kenichiro Wada, who discusses the near-term problems facing Japanese auto OEMs as they develop autonomous vehicles.

The North American economic forecast by Yosyf Sheremeta, Director of Product Management & Customer Experience. During H1 2019, he writes, the economy remained stable and pure economic conditions in the region were favorable. Most industries performed very well, and the short-term outlook remains flat to positive for most market segments. “However,” he writes, “we see many new developments that could suggest a shift in the trend.”

Here are other Top Stories in the August issue:

• Guest Editorial: Japanese Autonomous
• Data Point: US Off-Hwy Trucks
• China Has Largest EV Charging Network
• Brazil Harvester Sales Grow
• CAT Brazil Shows New Units
• Manitou Sees Slowdown
• Doosan Introduces Electric Units
• India 2-Wheel Sales Fall
• India 2-Wheel Inventories Climb
• Russian Auto Plant Begun
• Russian Machinery Sales Up 30%
• Russia, China Team Up

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We Expect 2020 NA Overall OEM Production To Be Flat

This article initially appeared in the February 2020 issue of PowerTALK News.

SUMMARY.  The North American economy remained stable in 2019 and pure economic conditions as well as fundamentals in the region were favorable. Most industries performed very well, and the short-term outlook remains stable to flat for most market segments. However, we see many new developments that could suggest a shift in the trend.

Yosyf Sheremeta
Yosyf Sheremeta

Consumer confidence declined slightly in December, following a moderate increase in November.  The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index stood at 126.5 in December, 1.4 points higher than in September 2019. 

Per Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: “While consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved, their expectations declined, driven primarily by a softening in their short-term outlook regarding jobs and financial prospects. While the economy hasn’t shown signs of further weakening, there is little to suggest that growth, and in particular consumer spending, will gain momentum in early 2020.”

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2020 NA Utility Vehicle Production: 436,700

This article first appeared in the March 2020 issue of PowerTALK™ News

This is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Utility Vehicles to be produced in North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States) in 2020.

DataPoint

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

Market Share: With combined plant totals of 32%, Polaris leads in production of utility vehicles in North America. Polaris has plants in Mexico and the US. In second position is Honda with 13%, followed by Deere with 12%.

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Powersports Segment Growth Ignores COVID-19

Michael Aistrup
Michael Aistrup

While much of the North American economy slowed to a crawl after COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020, the powersports industry posted significant growth. Many people, weary of staying at home, found a cure for cabin fever while riding an off-road vehicle or experiencing socially distant spaces on trails. By all indications, the sales increase in powersports equipment has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise grim COVID-19 economy.

According to Jeremy Jansen, senior vice president of Wells Fargo Commercial Banking’s distribution financing business, “What started out as a slight uptick has just taken off to record sales levels,” he said. “Dirt bikes, ATVs, side by sides, personal transport vehicles — everything in the book is retailing well above prior year.” After plummeting briefly in mid-March amid the initial shutdown, powersports sales skyrocketed in the ensuing months.

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DATAPOINT: Global Snowmobiles, 2021 Production, 107,250 Units

107,250 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Snowmobiles to be produced in Canada, Finland, Italy, Japan, and the U.S. in 2021.

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

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DATAPOINT: 2021 US ATV Production, 301,000 Units

301,000 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of ATVs to be produced in Mexico and the U.S. in 2021.

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

Market Share: With 28% of total units produced, Polaris Industries leads in production four-wheeled ATVs in North America.  In second and third positions are Honda and Yamaha Motor with 22% and 19%, respectively.

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