Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday said the issue of using improper fuel economy and emission tests faced by parent Suzuki Motor Corp in Japan will not have implications in India citing distinct testing regulations. It closed 9.4 percent lower at ￥2,613 (US$23.87).
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The revelation comes after Mitsubishi, Japan’s sixth-biggest automaker, last month said that it used fuel economy testing methods that did not comply with Japanese regulations for 25 years.
Japan’s transport ministry had ordered all of the country’s auto makers to present their compliance with government testing methods.
Mitsubishi is due to submit its report on internal findings of improprieties on fuel economy data later today.
According to Bloomberg, Suzuki boss Osamu Suzuki apologized for results of the investigation, but says his automaker did not cheat or maliciously manipulate data.
But in a separate case, Seoul said this week it will fine Nissan for allegedly manipulating emissions data on a popular diesel sports utility vehicle sold in South Korea.
The news came as an embarrassment for Japan’s number two carmaker, but the company has so far not come under fire for emissions cheating in Japan or anywhere else. Mitsubishi stock had actually plunged more than 30 per cent since the scandal.
“I must step down so that a fundamental reform can take place in the vehicle development department”, Aikawa, who led Mitsubishi’s development division, told The Wall Street Journal.
Mitsubishi Motors last week said it plans to sell a 34 percent controlling stake to Nissan Motor Co. for about $2.2 billion. The test manipulation may affect all models sold in Japan, including discontinued ones, it has said. The automaker reviewed the measuring process of driving resistance of all 16 models now available for sale, which translate to around 2.1 million vehicles being affected.
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Mitsubishi and Nissan could not be immediately reached for a comment.
