Mitsubishi Motors says cheated on mileage tests for 25 years

[kagalingan]

Yung dito kaya sa pinas kelan aamin na meron defect ang montero

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Mitsubishi Motors says cheated on mileage tests for 25 years
Reuters
Reuters – Tue, Apr 26, 2016 9:00 PM SGT

Mitsubishi Motors says cheated on mileage tests for 25 years - Yahoo Singapore Finance

By Naomi Tajitsu


Mitsubishi Motors Corp's President Tetsuro Aikawa (C) bows with other company executives during a news conference at the transport ministry in Tokyo, Japan, April 26, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter


TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese car maker Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T) said on Tuesday it used fuel economy testing methods that did not comply with Japanese regulations for 25 years, much longer than previously known.

It said aggressive internal targets may have put pressure on employees to overstate the fuel economy of its vehicles, and would set up an external committee to investigate the matter.

Japan's sixth-largest automaker has lost half its market value - some $3.9 billion (£2.6 billion) - since it admitted last week to manipulating test data for four domestic mini-vehicle models, including two it produced for Nissan Motor Co .

It has also said that more models may have used tests non-compliant with Japanese standards, prompting concern about ballooning potential compensation costs and fines. The U.S auto safety regulator is also seeking information, while Japanese authorities have raided one of the company's research and development facilities.

Mitsubishi Motors said it used appropriate testing methods on vehicles sold in the United States, and had no indications of data manipulation in vehicles sold in other overseas markets.

It said it had been submitting non-compliant data to Japan's transport ministry since 1991. It previously said such non-compliance went back only to at least 2002.

Ryugo Nakao, executive vice president, said Japanese regulations changed in 1991 to require testing methods to better reflect stop-and-go urban driving, but Mitsubishi Motors did not follow that rule change. "We should have switched, but it turns out we didn't," he said.

A committee of external experts will report the results of its investigation in three months, he said.

Nakao added that repeatedly raised internal fuel economy targets during the development of the affected models may have contributed to the cheating. "Judging by what the investigations have shown so far, it seems there was pressure," he told reporters.

Another executive, Koji Yokomaku, said Mitsubishi Motors raised its fuel economy targets five times in two years while developing the mini-vehicles, reaching 29.2 km (18.14 miles) per litre from an initial target of 26.4 kms per litre.

Chief Operating Officer Tetsuro Aikawa, who was on the engineering team that developed the original eK Wagon, said he had no idea the fuel economy readings were being falsified. "I was totally unaware this was happening," he said. "It's a problem that this issue didn't come up until now."

FASTER TEST

The automaker has said it compiled data for fuel economy tests using U.S. standards, where higher-speed, highway driving is common, rather than Japanese standards, where more prevalent city driving commonly consumes more fuel. Mitsubishi Motors said the U.S. testing method may have been used as it is shorter and would save time.

Japan’s transport ministry said it found irregularities with the way Mitsubishi Motors compiled mileage data on models in addition to the four affected mini-vehicles. It said it wanted an explanation for this from the company by May 11.

The ministry earlier said it set up a task force to examine how other automakers submit fuel economy data. Last week, it ordered other domestic automakers to submit fuel economy test data by May 18.

The misconduct has revived memories of a scandal more than 15 years ago in which Mitsubishi Motors admitted systematically covering up customer complaints for more than two decades, bringing the company close to collapse. It was bailed out by other Mitsubishi Group companies.

Senior officials at other Mitsubishi firms say it would be difficult for them to help the car maker this time, if needed, as they face their own financial squeeze, as well as calls to put shareholder returns above ties with the former Mitsubishi business empire.

Takehiko Kakiuchi, President and CEO of trading group Mitsubishi Corp , told Reuters he as "aghast" at the scandal engulfing its sister company.

(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu, with additional reporting by Maki Shiraki and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Ian Geoghegan)

[jaggerx3]

Yung dito kaya sa pinas kelan aamin na meron defect ang montero

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Not the first time in automotive history na nandaya sa mileage test.
Pero yung SUA di totoo yun!

Yung dito kaya sa pinas kelan aamin na meron defect ang montero

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Sent from my LG-H818 using Tapatalk

[dr. d]

Yung dito kaya sa pinas kelan aamin na meron defect ang montero

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....kapag nag-SUA sa japan...??

[Stigg ma]

Not the first time in automotive history na nandaya sa mileage test.
Pero yung SUA di totoo yun!



Sent from my LG-H818 using Tapatalk

and not the first time that car company cheated... go check the history books...

thats why i never trusted that brand...

[Stigg ma]

....kapag nag-SUA sa japan...??

very slim chance SUA will happen to japan, they have cars especially manufactured/designed for their country and not the ones exported outside of them (except if its made in japan export, eg. honda jazz when thailand plant was flooded)

[anonemus]

I wonder if the Mirage GLX great fuel economy reputation is a lie also.

I hope Top Gear will conduct a test

[Synth007]

I think mirage is not on the list though testing the car itself proves to be sufficient enough that the car is very economical. One of the cheapest and most economical car in our country today.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[moneyp]

Future of scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors in doubt – again - Channel NewsAsia

they are now talking about the possible demise of the whole company. pinoys mahilig sa mitsubishi, baka ma-stuck sa defunct company in the future.

[kagalingan]

Future of scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors in doubt – again - Channel NewsAsia

they are now talking about the possible demise of the whole company. pinoys mahilig sa mitsubishi, baka ma-stuck sa defunct company in the future.

Ihighlight ko yung nakakabasag na kagaguhan ng mitsubishi. Ang dami pwede "bala" ng mga SUA victims.

Future of scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors in doubt – again
Sales are falling off a cliff. Its reputation is in tatters. And even its top executive is talking about whether the automaker will survive.

Posted 01 May 2016 14:53

TOKYO: Sales are falling off a cliff. Its reputation is in tatters. And even its top executive is talking about whether the automaker will survive.

Mitsubishi Motors' future is hanging in the balance for the second time in a decade after a bombshell admission that it has been cheating on fuel-economy tests for years.

The crisis is threatening to put the company into the ditch permanently, but some analysts think the vast web of shareholdings among Japanese firms may just save it from the scrap yard.

"I really think the future of Mitsubishi Motors is grim," said Hideyuki Kobayashi, a business professor at Hitotsubashi University, who authored a book about the company's struggles with an earlier cover-up.

"It would be silly to buy a Mitsubishi car after this (scandal). This isn't the first time this has happened."

In 2005, the maker of the Outlander SUV and Lancer cars was pulled back from the brink of bankruptcy after it was discovered that it covered up vehicle defects that caused fatal accidents.

The vast Mitsubishi group of companies stepped in with a series of bailouts, saving the embattled firm.

But it is not clear if they would be so willing to help this time around as the automaker faces possibly huge fines, lawsuits and customer compensation costs.

The scandal has shone a light on the cozy relationships between Japanese firms – including the big equity stakes they hold in each other – which have come under renewed scrutiny in recent years.

Critics say these mutual investments promote complacency and insulate mediocre management from criticism, while Japan's premier is pushing to unwind this web of investment ties to help improve the country's woeful corporate governance record.

'VERY DISAPPOINTING'

Mitsubishi's president acknowledged this week that his firm's existence was "at risk", but its top shareholder revealed little about its intentions.

"Mitsubishi Motors has come a long way since past problems, so this is very disappointing," said Shunichi Miyanaga, head of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which holds over 12 percent of the automaker's shares.

"We need to think about the brand image of the Mitsubishi Group, its social responsibility and accountability for performance."

The under-fire firm will also have to grapple with the likelihood of paying damages to Nissan.

More than half of some 625,000 affected vehicles so far – all mini-cars sold in Japan – were produced for Nissan, which uncovered the problems with Mitsubishi's fuel-economy data.

This week, Mitsubishi admitted its faulty testing stretches back a quarter century, longer than first thought, so the odds that cars sold overseas were involved has soared – along with the potential scope of the crisis.

Unnamed employees also falsified data to make cars look more fuel efficient than they were, it has said.

"We don't have the full picture yet on how the company would compensate" customers, said Seiji Sugiura, a senior auto analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.

"All Mitsubishi cars on the road right now could be subject to compensation costs, which would be massive."

The company, which sold about one million vehicles globally last year, has the least amount of cash among Japan's major automakers and lacks the size of rivals such as Toyota and Honda to help weather the storm.

Sales in Japan have dived by nearly half since the scandal broke last week, and the damage to its reputation threatens to hammer its finances.

But "the Mitsubishi brand remains strong in foreign markets, especially in Thailand which has been a significant source of profit for the company. There is also a new factory in Indonesia", Sugiura said.

"There is foundation to build a recovery if the company doesn't get entangled in wrongdoing overseas."

A desperate Mitsubishi may also embrace a foreign suitor if top shareholders abandon it.

Taiwan's Foxconn recently snapped up struggling electronics giant Sharp, although foreign takeovers of Japanese firms are rare.

The stakes are high given the Mitsubishi companies' longstanding links, including distribution and product ties, according to Sugiura.

"The group companies also have to protect their own interests," he said.

"Lots of business would be affected in the group if the automaker collapses."

[niky]

I think mirage is not on the list though testing the car itself proves to be sufficient enough that the car is very economical. One of the cheapest and most economical car in our country today.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

The fuel economy is legit. Personal testing and testing by others both here and abroad (including hypermilers, not just media outlets) point to its fuel efficiency.

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Also... there's a very simple solution to fixing the scandal. If the inflated numbers are due to over-inflated tires, then just change the suggested inflation pressures on the door stickers.

Problem solved.

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Still, disappointing, but not very shocking, considering Ford, Hyundai, Kia and just about every European manufacturer uses the same trick. Hell, European testing has loopholes that ALLOW you to overinflate tires and even use worn tires (lower rolling resistance) and lower-rolling resistance road surfaces (smooth, hard-packed concrete has much lower rolling resistance than asphalt) to increase fuel economy numbers.