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Mitsubishi: false mileage tests since 1991

Getty

Getty

Mitsubishi Motors Corp, the Japanese carmaker that acknowledged last week that it had intentionally lied about fuel economy data for some of its models, said an internal investigation found such tampering dated back to 1991.

President Tetsuro Aikawa told reporters on Tuesday the probe was ongoing, suggesting that more irregularities might be found.

“We don’t know the whole picture and we are in the process of trying to determine that,” he said at a news conference at the transport ministry.

“I feel a great responsibility.”

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Aikawa said so much was unknown that it’s uncertain what action the company will take. He said he didn’t know why employees resorted to such tactics to make mileage look better. Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors had repeatedly promised to come clean after a massive scandal 15 years ago involving a systematic cover-up of car defects.

Getty

Mitsubishi Motors President Tetsuro Aikawa. Photo: Getty

The inaccurate mileage tests involved 157,000 of its eK wagon and eK Space light passenger cars, and 468,000 Dayz and Dayz Roox vehicles produced for Nissan Motor Co.

The models are all so-called “minicars” with tiny engines whose main attraction is generally great mileage. They were produced from March 2013. The problem surfaced after Nissan pointed out inconsistencies in data.

The carmaker found the company’s mileage goal for the minicars that had been set in 2011 was suddenly raised in 2013. Why that happened is unclear, according to officials.

Aikawa also said it was unclear how customers were going to be compensated because the extent of the cheating was still under investigation.

Mileage fraud is a violation of Japan’s fuel efficiency law for autos because buyers are eligible for tax breaks if a vehicle model delivers good mileage.

Possible penalties are still unclear due to the uncertainties over the investigation’s outcome, according to the transport ministry.

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