Photo/Illutration Hino Motors Ltd. and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. are reportedly nearing a final agreement on business integration. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Major truck manufacturers Hino Motors Ltd. and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. are nearing a final agreement on their merger, it was learned on April 22. 

If realized, commercial vehicle manufacturers in Japan will be reorganized into two camps: Hino and Mitsubishi Fuso, and Isuzu Motors Ltd. and its group company, UD Trucks Corp.

Hino, Mitsubishi Fuso and the parent companies of both companies reached a basic agreement in May 2023 to integrate to accelerate investment in technology, including the development of electric vehicles for decarbonization, by increasing the scope of their operations.

They had hoped to merge by the end of 2024.

However, a class action lawsuit was filed in North America over Hino's fraudulent certification of its engines, which was discovered in 2022, and there were fears that Hino would be required to pay a huge amount of compensation.

Furthermore, Hino and Mitsubishi Fuso have high market shares in Japan and Southeast Asia, and it took longer than expected to obtain the necessary permits and approval from the regulatory authorities.

In February 2024, the two companies announced the postponement of the integration indefinitely.

Since then, a series of disputes have neared a conclusion including a settlement in Hino’s class action lawsuit, and the two companies have once again moved again toward integration.

The most likely plan is for Toyota Motor Corp., Hino's parent company, and Daimler Truck of Germany, Mitsubishi Fuso’s parent company, to establish a new holding company and place the two merging companies under its control, as originally planned.

The two companies aim to integrate by April 2026. Toyota's and Daimler's stakes in the holding company are expected to be of an equal size. 

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