Mitsubishi admits to cheating fuel tests since 1991

Mitsubishi’s emissions scandal has broadened with the firm admitting that it has been cheating fuel economy tests since 1991.

The latest announcement comes just days after the company’s president Tetsuro Aikawa said there could be more cars with incorrectly measured fuel economy data than originally thought.

The most recent decrease in Mitsubishi shares, which have been dropping rapidly as the scandal escalates, shows the company has lost 50% of its share value on the Japanese stock exchange since the story broke.

External investigation

A committee has been assembled to further investigate the brand. It is made up of three external lawyers, headed by committee chair Keiichi Watanabe, who is a previous superintending prosecutor at Tokyo High Prosecutors Office. The two remaining committee members are Yoshiro Sakata and Genta Yoshino.

In an official statement released yesterday morning, Mitsubishi said the committee would review related documents and data, and interview all people suspected of being involved. Once the investigation is complete, the comittee will be responsible for drafting up measures to prevent a recurrence.

Domestic media reported last week that, alongside the 625,000 local cars already affected, other models involved could include the i-MIEV electric car, which is sold in the UK. The car maker is also suspected of using non-Japanese testing processes on the iRVR, Pajero and Outlander models, the latter of which is also on sale in this country.

So far, Mitsubishi UK believes no UK models are affected. It told Autocar UK: "There is no suggestion at this stage that vehicles in Europe are affected. As you can see from this morning’s announcement, a committee has been put together to ascertain the bigger picture – if indeed there is one."

Report due tomorrow

US authorities are continuing to press for more information from the company, with Japanese officials saying that Mitsubishi could be responsible for refunding customers, in a similar way to the Volkswagen deal currently underway in the States. Japan’s transport minister Keiichi Ishii said he wanted the company to consider the possibility of buying back the cars in question.

Late last week Mitsubishi’s second largest office in Japan was raided by government authorities following the car maker’s original admission of falsifying fuel economy data.

The Japanese government has described it as an “extremely serious case” and has ordered the company to submit a full report by 27 April.

News for the case first broke when Mitsubishi admitted to rigging fuel tests in the middle of April, when it said around 625,000 Mitsubishi-made cars could be affected, including vehicles produced for Nissan.

The models initially named were four superminis; the Mitsubishi eK Wagon and eK Space and the Nissan Dayz and Dayz Roox.

All four models are 'kei' cars – models with small-capacity engines and compact dimensions, which are extremely popular in Asia. Of the 625,000 affected, 468,000 units are Nissan models, while 157,000 are Mitsubishis.

Mitsubishi said it had "conducted testing improperly to present better fuel consumption rates than the actual rates, and that the testing method was also different from the one required by Japanese law". It added: "We express deep apologies to all of our customers and stakeholders for this issue."

The company has stopped production and sales of the four cars first affected, and announced it will conduct an investigation into products manufactured for overseas markets; this latest announcement suggests inconsistencies have been found.