Japan’s Transport Ministry ordered Mitsubishi Motors to submit a full report on the test manipulation within a week, and for other Japanese automakers to also submit fuel economy test data by May 18.
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Mitsubishi, Japanese auto giant admitted to rigging the fuel economy for its passenger vehicles that are being sold in Japan.
Meanwhile Mitsubishi Motors has seen its share price fall 33 percent in two days.
More than half a million cars are involved in the fiasco – MMC said that up until March this year, it has sold 157,000 units of the eK Wagon and eK Space and supplied 468,000 units of the Dayz and Dayz Roox to Nissan.
The falsification of fuel-economy data was perpetrated at the company’s section in charge of testing the performances of new models. It is possible that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will monitor Mitsubishi vehicles more closely in the U.S., although they will not be a priority due to their limited numbers.
Mitsubishi Motors, the Japanese automaker tarnished by a massive recall cover-up 15 years ago, owned up to another scandal Wednesday, saying employees had intentionally falsified fuel mileage data for several vehicle models. Among Mitsubishi-brand autos now on the market, sport utility vehicles RVR, Outlander and Pajero may have been tested using the simplified method.
In light of these events, MMC will investigate models manufactured for overseas markets and also plans to set up a committee consisting of external experts to thoroughly look into the matter. Mitsubishi Motors President Tetsuro Aikawa rejected the possibility of buying back affected vehicles when he spoke to reporters Wednesday. Prior to that in 2014, South Korea’s Hyundai and Kia agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars in fine to settle a litigation in the USA, again for exaggerating the fuel efficiency on its cars sold in 2012 and 2013.
The questions are why Mitsubishi Motors employees went astray and falsified data and how the management failed to detect what was going on.
The higher fuel-efficiency ratings meant the cars, most of which were sold by Nissan, were eligible for government-backed rebates.
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Production and sales of all affected models were halted, according to the companies. Among the recent ones are electronics company Toshiba Corp., which acknowledged it had doctored accounting books for years.
