Nissan broke the scandal when it noticed discrepancies with two Mitsubishi-designed models, the eK Wagon and eK Space, sold under license in Japan as the Nissan Dayz and Dayz Roox.
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And now the inevitable casualty list has claimed its first high-profile victims.
Mitsubishi said Mr Aikawa and executive vice president Ryugo Nakao would both step down in the wake of the saga.
“I must step down so that a fundamental reform can take place in the vehicle development department”, Aikawa said.
Mitsubishi states rigging dates back 25 years, and might involve all designs sold in Japan, consisting of ceased ones.
Earlier during the day, SMC admitted in Tokyo to using wrong methods to test fuel economy of its cars in Japan widening a testing scandal that has already rocked smaller rival Mitsubishi Motors Corp. “In India, all vehicles are tested for road load and emissions by government approved agencies like ARAI, ICAT and VRDE”, a Maruti Suzuki India spokesperson said in a statement here.
The rapidly developed crisis implicated most if not all of the automaker’s current lineup of Japanese-market cars, as well as cars that it has been producing at its facilities for Nissan. Nissan then bought a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi for $2.2 billion, giving it a controlling interest.
“Any wrongdoing, such as manipulation of fuel efficiency data, were not found”, Suzuki said, insiting that new tests showed no need to amend the data.
Automobile major Maruti Suzuki on Wednesday said that its parent firm Suzuki Motor Corporation’s (SMC) fuel and emissions testing issue does not apply to products sold outside Japan. This is still the biggest single drop in the company’s share price in seven years, reports Bloomberg, but the admission has affected the company far less than similar news affected Mitsubishi.
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According to Suzuki, the Sagara proving ground that is owned by the company is located on top of a hill close to sea, where it is significantly affected by weather conditions such as influence of wind and carrying out tests was hard.
