Mitsubishi Motors has finally admitted last week that it had intentionally falsified its fuel economy data since 1991. The Japanese car maker cheated on the fuel data on some of its models, according to the findings of its own internal investigators.
Tetsuro Aikawa, President of the company, told reporters last Tuesday that the internal probe is still ongoing, indicating that more irregularities may still be discovered.
"We don't know the whole picture and we are in the process of trying to determine that," Aikawa informed those present in a news conference at the transport ministry. "I feel a great responsibility," he added.
The executive also added that so many things are still unknown that it is still unclear what action the car maker will take. He admitted that he is clueless as to why employees have resorted to this tactics just to make it appear that their cars' mileages are better.
By admitting that Mitsubishi Motors did not comply with Japanese regulations for 25 years, the company lost half of its market value, which is around $3.9 billion.
The sixth-largest carmaker in Japan had already promised to come clean after a huge fiasco that happened 15 years ago when it was involved in a systematic cover-up of car defects.
But now, with more than 157,000 units of its eK wagon and eK Space light passenger cars, together with 468,000 DayZ and DayZ Roox vehicles built for Nissan Motor Co involved in fuel mileage cheating tests, this promise has been proven to be hollow.
These car models have been touted by Mitsubishi Motors as having great mileage since they are classified as "minicars" with small engines. But tests made by Nissan revealed inconsistencies in the data leading to the discovery of fuel and mileage falsifications.
In the ensuing drama, vehicle safety regulators in the United States are also seeking information while Japanese authorities have investigated one of Mitsubishi's facilities to find out the truth.
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