The Japanese car maker Mitsubishi Motors (
www.mitsubishi-motors.com) has admitted that it manipulated test data to overstate the fuel efficiency of 625,000 cars.
The faked tests cover four of its mini-cars, two of which it manufactured for Nissan. The number of Nissan cars affected was 468,000, while 157,000 cars were sold under the Mitsubishi brand.
When Nissan tested the cars supplied by Mitsubishi Motors, it found differences between its figures and Mitsubishi Motors’s results. It asked Mitsubishi to investigate; this brought to light “improper conduct” and tests that did not meet Japanese laws.
Mitsubishi Motors president Tetsuro Aikawa said: “We found that we conducted testing improperly to present better fuel consumption rates than the actual rates, and the testing method was also different from the one required by Japanese law. We express deep apologies to all of our customers and stake-holders for this issue.”
Mitsubishi Motors, which is the sixth-biggest car maker in Japan by market value and is owned by Japan’s Mitsubishi conglomerate, said that it and Nissan had stopped production of the cars and it is to discuss compensation with Nissan.
The incorrect testing method was used for other cars manufactured for the Japanese market, and Mitsubishi Motors will now look at products made for overseas markets. The company will set up an investigation committee of outside experts, it said.
The morning after Mitsubishi Motors had admitted to its misleading behaviour, Japanese government officials raided the company’s plant in the central Japanese city of Okazaki. A government spokesman said that the matter is being treated “extremely seriously” and that it has ordered the company to submit a full report by the end of the month.