The falsified tests involved 157,000 Mitsubishi eK Wagon and eK Space 660cc mini-cars, some 468,000 of which have been supplied to Nissan Motors since 2011.
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The models which got affected include Mitsubishi’s ek Wagon and eK Space, as well as Nissan’s Dayz and Dayz Roox.
Both automakers have made a decision to stop production and sales of the affected cars and to discuss compensation regarding this issue.
Japanese auto giant Mitsubishi has admitted to rigging the fuel economy results of its passenger vehicles sold in Japan.
“It has become clear that improper testing methods were used to improve the appearance of fuel efficiency”, Aikawa said before he and other company leaders bowed in apology. In response to Nissan’s request, Mitsubishi admitted that data had been intentionally manipulated in its fuel economy testing process for certification.
According to Sydney Morning Herald, Mitsubishi was financially hurt by the issue, which came more than 10 years after it had bailout done when defects were found on some of its models.
While VW and Mitsubishi are two of the most recent automakers to admit to cheating emissions and fuel efficiency laws, they’re not the first.
Bloomberg reported that after the revelations, the company shares fell 15 percent in Tokyo, which represents the biggest decline in Mitsubishi stock in over a decade.
The company said the cars were only sold in Japan, but the investigation would cover overseas.
“We found that with respect to the fuel consumption testing data…” In 2014, they agreed to pay a $350 million penalty to U.S. authorities to end the United States environmental agency and department of justice investigation into the scandal, which affected around 1.2 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles in the US.
It was Japan’s worst automotive recall scandal at the time. Mitsubishi has called an immediate halt to the manufacture and sale of the four mini-car models.
“We would like to reveal the extent of the inaccuracies as soon as possible”, Suga said.
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The Transport Ministry has ordered the company to submit a full report on test manipulation within a week.
