Mitsubishi Motors is involved in another scandal as the company is conducting improper fuel consumption testing. The company has admitted its employees manipulated the testing methods in order to advertise higher fuel efficiency for certain car models.
The affected models for the said scandal are the minicar models which include the eK Wagon and eK Space and the Dayz and Dayz Roox which were manufactured by Mitsubishi for Nissan Motors. From June 2013 to March 2016, there were an estimated 600,000 vehicles that were said to be affected including 157,000 that were already sold to consumers and another 486,000 vehicles supplied to Nissan as per Hot Hardware.
Nissan Motors were the one who discovered the inaccurate fuel efficiency numbers when it tested the next generation minicars data against the previous ones. Nissan found a deviation in the results which prompted an internal investigation then later on uncovered the foul play on the testing process.
Mitsubishi also found out that its workers have been using running resistance value which is based on tire and air resistance during testing to be able to achieve a better gas mileage rating. According to Jacksonville, Tetsuro Aikawa, the company's president, said the wrongdoing was intentional. He added that it is a clear falsification to make the mileage look better.
As reported by City A.M, Mitsubishi's managing director in UK, Lance Bradley, claimed the company has acted quickly and decisively. Bradley added that it understands that the issue is a big deal for consumers. He reassured everyone that no evidence suggests that the UK and European cars were affected by the issue.
Mitsubishi Motor is not the only one who has this issue. German automaker Volkswagen has also been caught cheating on emission testing while Hyundai and Kia are alleged of cheating fuel efficiency numbers which cost them $350 million in settlement last 2014. Mitsubishi, on the other hand, is expanding its investigation on the issue.
