Mitsubishi Admits Falsifying Fuel Mileage Tests

Japanese auto manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors announced on Wednesday that it has falsified testing data for many of its vehicles’ fuel economy. According to the announcement, more than 600,000 vehicles were sold between 2013 and the present that have had faulty fuel mileage estimates attached to them.

Though unexpected, the announcement of wrongdoing on the part of Mitsubishi was not the first in the company’s recent history. In 2000 and again in 2004, releases were made by the firm regarding its failure to comply with safety regulations. In both instances, recall notifications were issued for the vehicles that were affected. Since 2004, however, the company has run smoothly with no further interruptions, until Wednesday’s announcement.

Coming off of the announcement, which was made by Mitsubishi President Tetsuro Aikawa, the Japanese automaker’s share price plummeted by more than 15 percent. The stock, which had been holding onto a week of relative stability, plummeted from ¥865 to ¥733 in less than one hour of trading, a fall that was broken by the close of trading. It is not yet clear what effects after hours trading may have on the price of Mitsubishi’s stock when the markets open for trading again on Thursday. The total loss in value of shares during Wednesday’s crash, however, totaled £830 million.

In order to respond to the problems inherent in the affected vehicles, Aikawa stated that Mitsubishi will cease the production of all models whose fuel economy estimates were inflated by the falsified test results. Of the affected vehicles, many were also marketed by the Nissan corporation, for which Mitsubishi constructed them. It was, in fact, these vehicles made by Mitsubishi for Nissan that led to the public announcement, as Nissan was also given the falsified data and found that the numbers provided by Mitsubishi did not match its own internal testing. The exact method used by Mitsubishi to manipulate the figures is not yet clear.

Mitsubishi has also announced that it will convene an internal committee to decide the best course of action for handling the recalls of the affected vehicles and for complying with existing regulations going forward. Thus far, it is not known whether or not Japanese regulators will also be conducting a public investigation into the actions of the automaker.