The company said the testing methods used were different from those required by Japanese rules, but that proper testing of the vehicles showed no need to amend the fuel economy data.
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The Japanese authorities, however, asked for more details from Suzuki before May 31, calling its use of non-compliant tests “outrageous”.
“As the outcome of our internal investigation, acts of injustice, such as manipulation of fuel efficiency data, were not found. Some discrepancies were found in the automobile emission and fuel efficiency testing process between the regulation by MLIT and the actual method carried out by Suzuki”.
Mitsubishi Motors’ President has made a decision to step down from the top level function after the fuel economy scandal erupted last month.
Mitsubishi President Testuro Aikawa said he will step down to take responsibility for the mileage cheating scandal, although he will stay on to the end of the investigation.
On Wednesday, Tetsuro Aikawa, president of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., announced that he would resign in June amid a growing crisis surrounding false fuel-efficiency data.
Suzuki’s dubious tests did not affect models sold overseas.
That same year, Ford said it would compensate owners of about 200,000 US vehicles after discovering the cars’ gas mileage was overstated.
Mitsubishi said rigging goes back 25 years, and may involve all models, including discontinued ones. Mitsubishi stock had plunged more than 30 per cent after the scandal. Maruti Suzuki’s shares pared declines of as much as 3.7 percent, their biggest intraday drop in six weeks, and were down 0.7 percent as of 1:59 p.m.in Mumbai trading after the briefing by Suzuki.
Nissan then bought a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi for $2.2 billion, giving it a controlling interest.
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The Japanese government ordered all carmakers to check their mileage tests and re-submit fuel economy readings on all their vehicles by Wednesday, after the Mitsubishi scandal broke in late April.
