Hot off the press today is another revelation from a car manufacturer that has admitted to altering the truth in terms of carbon emissions data. Japanese car company, Mitsubishi, has said that the data of 625,000 vehicles was manipulated.
In a statement released by Mitsubishi, they admitted:
In connection with the certification process for the mini-cars manufactured by the MMC, we found that with respect to the consumption testing data submitted to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), MMC 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. We express deep apologies to all of our customers and stakeholders for this issue.
It is currently unclear what the punishment for contravening Japanese law will be for the company. This admitting of guilt comes after Volkswagen was also found to be underreporting carbon emissions data. Opinion makers were very confident that the VW revelations would lead to other automakers admitting to the same 
practices, which has been confirmed with Mitsubishi’s announcement. The company says that it has altered four classes of its vehicles which include minivans, trucks, and passenger cars under the kei banner of vehicles manufactured by Mitsubishi.
“The applicable cars are four mini-car models, two of which are the “eK Wagon” and “eK Space” which have been manufactured by MMC; and the other two are the “Dayz” and “Dayz Roox” which have been manufactured by MMC and supplied to Nissan Motors Corporation since June 2013,” the statement by Mitsubishi read.
They also confirm that production and sales of the vehicles in question will be stopped immediately. According to Bloomberg, the company’s shares fell by 15 percent on the back of the announcement.
Seiji Sugiura, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center, spoke to Bloomberg, saying: “This may be very different from Volkswagen’s issue, but the market has become very sensitive to such kind of news. It may have a similar impact in terms of sales and the company’s reputation.”
More as this news develops.
Source: Mitsubishi & Bloomberg
