Toyota's 4Y forklift engine the subject of a class action caseA proposed class action has been filed against Toyota in the United States, following admissions from the Japanese-headquartered manufacturer of "emissions cheating" in a number of diesel and petrol-powered forklifts.
The case has been filed in the Northern District Court of California on behalf of Broadmoor Lumber & Plywood, Italian food distributor Ferraro Foods and nursery Marders against Toyota Industries, Toyota Material Handling NA, Toyota Material Handling Inc and Toyota Motor Corporation.
The complaint follows the March 2023 announcement from Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) it was suspending a domestic shipment of forklifts in Japan, "due to potential violation of regulations related to certification of engines for forklifts".
The affected engines were two diesel models, the 2014-certified 1ZS and 1KD and the petrol-powered 2009-certified 4Y.
The complaint filed this week states Toyota’s Special Investigation Committee (SIC), established to investigate the allegations of emissions cheating, "revealed that the cheating was even more widespread than Toyota previously disclosed".
"In addition to the three forklift engines already implicated, the SIC investigation identified many more," the complaint states. "One more current forklift engine (certification model year 2014 1FS), three formerly used forklift engines (certification model year 2007 1DZ, 4Y, and 1FZ), and a current and former engine used in construction machinery like excavators (certification model years 2016 and 2020 Construction 1KD)."
In April, law firm Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein started seeking US-based users of forklifts to bring a class action against Toyota following its admission the emission cheating spanned more than a decade in Japan.
The three plaintiffs in the case filed this week, each state they purchased forklifts they believed were low emissions or produced less emissions than they were advised and would not have purchased them if they had known their true emissions output.
The complaint filed with the court demands a jury trial.