Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has admitted to deliberately manipulating fuel economy test data to improved claimed figures totalling over 625,000 vehicles.
This reveal even concerns certain models manufactured by Mitsubishi and supplied to the Nissan Motor Co, whose engineers detected the inaccuracy and begun the chain of events that have lead up to the statement by Mitsubishi.
As of now, both companies are in talks to discover the extent of the test data manipulation and compensation. For now, it is not known whether models exported to markets outside Japan were effected.
According to Kyodo news, the way in which Mitsubishi Motors is suspected to manipulating fuel consumption figures is by changing the load placed on tyres during while the vehicle was undergoing testing.
Following the public reveal that it had mishandled fuel economy figures to yield lower consumption figures, stock prices for Mitsubishi Motors fell considerably, and brands it as the second major rigging scandal to hit the automotive industry since Volkwagen’s ‘Dieselgate’ of September 2015.
Mitsubishi Motors Australia (MMAL) wished to clarify that models sold in Australia are not impacted, although its parent company will continue to investigate products manufactured for overseas markets.
