Toyota truck unit to halt North American plants until September

Toyota Motor Corp.’s truck and bus arm Hino Motors Ltd. will halt its plants and postpone new-model vehicle sales in the U.S. and Canada as a result after it faced issues with the certification of its engines.

Hino will suspend production at its West Virginia plant in the U.S. and its Woodstock plant in Canada until the end of September next year, the company said in a statement Wednesday. The decision came after Hino’s board of directors met earlier in the day.

The production halt follows “challenges in the required U.S. engine certification testing process” for new model years of a number of the company’s engines for the North American market. Hino is investigating the impact of the suspension on its earnings and will provide any updates in due course, it said.

Hino vehicle sales are projected to drop sharply in North America, falling 53% year-on-year to 8,000 units for the fiscal year ending March, according to Wednesday’s statement. Global sales are forecast to decrease 21% over the same period.