Yahoo Finance Mitsubishi Admits Faking Emissions Tests
Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi Motors has admitted manipulating fuel economy tests on some of its own brand and Nissan cars to make the results more favourable.
The company spoke up after initial reports vehicles had failed testing sparked the biggest one day fall in its share price for 12 years - losing 15%, or $1.2bn (£835m), of its market value by the close of trading.
In an announcement that bore striking similarities to the emissions-testing scandal at German rival Volkswagen (Xetra: 766400 - news) , Mitsubishi (LSE: 7035.L - news) confirmed there was evidence to suggest employees falsified test data for several models.
It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) involved 157,000 of its own brand light passenger cars, including the eK mini-wagon, and 468,000 vehicles produced for Nissan.
The company said all 625,000 cars were built since mid-2013 and the bulk of them were sold in the domestic Japanese market.
Nissan told Sky News none of the cars carrying its brand were sold in the UK.
At a news conference in Tokyo, Mitsubishi president Tetsuro Aikawa told reporters the wrongdoing came to light because Nissan alerted it to inconsistencies in emissions data.
He said Mitsubishi's internal probe uncovered the manipulation by staff and independent investigators had now been called in to identify those responsible.
It is not the first time Mitsubishi's reputation has been tarnished.
It struggled to win back consumer trust after a scandal in the early 2000s over cover-ups of problems such as failing brakes, faulty clutches and fuel tanks prone to falling off.
It sparked the biggest recall to date in Japan's automotive industry at that time after it later admitted issues with its vehicles dated back to the 1970s.
