Experts say that this high-speed coasting method is easier and requires less testing time than the other method.
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Takehiko Kakiuchi, President and CEO of trading group Mitsubishi Corp, told Reuters he as “aghast” at the scandal engulfing its sister company.
That relevation drove speculation that its misconduct also stretched to vehicles sold overseas, and would send the number of affected vehicles soaring from the more than 600,000 cars – all sold in Japan – that were already known about. It isn’t clear how many vehicles are affected, though no cars sold in the U.S. are believed to be.
Mitsubishi Motors, the Japanese automaker that acknowledged last week that it had intentionally lied about fuel economy data for some of its models, said an internal investigation found such tampering dated back to 1991. “I feel a great responsibility”, Mitsubishi’s president, Tetsuro Aikawa, said Tuesday.
“I’m taking this as a case that could affect our company’s existence”, he said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered the automaker to conduct new fuel efficiency tests after it admitted to fudging its numbers in Japan for the past quarter century. The automaker’s market value has since dropped to $3.85 billion.
The scale of the scandal is only just coming to light after it was revealed in April that data was falsified in the testing of four types of cars, including two Nissan cars. It previously said it had been submitting non-compliant data to Japan’s transport ministry only since 2002.
The company compiled data for fuel economy tests using USA standards. The NHTSA has also asked Mitsubishi to provide them with more recent and concrete information.
This is the latest in a series of scandals plaguing the troubled Mitsubishi.
The German company last week reported its first annual loss for two decades after its provision for the scandal increased to €16.2bn (£12.7bn).
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For green auto enthusiasts, bad news surrounding Mitsubishi leaves open questions about promised electrified vehicles.
