Mitsubishi busted for cheating on fuel economy/emissions tests

[MetroMPG]

JDM Mitsubishi eK Wagon. Only Kei class cars affected for now, but the company says they're looking at other models' tests.

Looks like Mitsu is following in Hyundai & Ford's footsteps, gaming fuel economy ratings with "erroneous" road load/rolling resistance values.

The ratings overstated fuel efficiency by 5 to 10 percent.

Mitsu was outed by Nissan, which rebrands some of Mitsu's cars for sale in Japan.

The models affected include the eK Wagon and eK Space, manufactured and sold by Mitsubishi, and the Dayz and Dayz Roox, manufactured by Mitsubishi and supplied to Nissan for sale. According to Mitsubishi, it was Nissan's in-house testers that discovered the discrepancy between the cars' published fuel efficiency data, and their real-life results.

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/20/11...ficiency-tests

So far they're saying it's just the Kei vehicles, but they're saying likely more are affected:

During our internal investigation, we have found that the testing method which was different from the one required by Japanese law has been applied to other models manufactured by MMC for the Japanese domestic market.

Taking into account the seriousness of these issues, we will also conduct an investigation into products manufactured for overseas markets.

Source: http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/pub...etailg420.html

Will the Mirage be affected?

The company has gone to great lengths advertising it as the most fuel efficient non-hybrid available in North America (and at/near the top of its class in many other countries).



I'm thinking probably not.

1) Real world stats show the Mirage's EPA ratings are already conservative/realistic. 125 owners on average are already beating the rating by a good amount over 1.2 million km of real world driving:

• CVTs are averaging 41 mpg average vs. 40 mpg EPA combined
• 5-speed manuals are blowing away the EPA rating of 37 mpg combined with a massive 44 mpg average
• Stats from: http://mirageforum.com/forum/emgarage-stats.php

2) The cheat appears to apply to JDM testing only. The EPA has already revised coastdown/road load testing in the States after busting Hyundai for similar cheats. Ford too.

For the 2017 model year, coastdown testing procedures are stricter. The 2017 Mirage already has a ~1 MPG lower rating than the 2014/15 model years, possibly because of this change. (Although they also changed the engine slightly.)

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

As we say in Brazil, the hole is way deeper than it appeared when Dieselgate emerged.

[MetroMPG]

Mitsu's deception appears to be decidedly less sophisticated than VW's:

To get more favourable road load results, apparently they just put more air in the tires!

LET THIS BE A LESSON TO EVERYBODY HERE:

PUT MORE AIR IN YOUR TIRES.

[NeilBlanchard]

The news blurb on NPR this morning said that Mitsubishi is blaming some of their workers for this.

Really?

[Frank Lee]

Executives aren't accountable... are they?

[niky]

What's the cost of changing a hundred thousand or so tire pressure door stickers to reflect the higher pressures, making the results totally legit?

$10k?

Chump change.

Also, most Japanese executives, unlike US executives, will gladly put their heads on a platter and resign at times like this.

[MetroMPG]

Ha! That's some creative problem solving.

The scandal is widening to other models, predictably. RVR (Outlander Sport in the US) is now implicated, so this may spread outside Japan. NHTSA is now investigating. (Which is odd -- you'd think it would be the EPA, no?)

Source: http://www.rte.ie/news/business/2016...shi-emissions/

I contacted Mitsu in the US and specifically asked if the Mirage's road load calculations for the EPA test were done independently of the Japanese testing and the reply was:

An independent investigation committee is being established to determine if any overseas models have also been subjected to the same testing procedures.At this point, we are not aware of any vehicles sold in the U.S. being impacted by this testing irregularity.

Oh, and the company's stock hit an all time low yesterday. It's now down something like 40% or -$3 billion.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Oh, and the company's stock hit an all time low yesterday. It's now down something like 40% or -$3 billion.

Wow. Mitsubishi was, shall we say, misleadingly optimistic and got caught? The more things change, the more they stay the same:

Safety Scandal Shames Mitsubishi
New Cover-Up Allegations Hobble Japan's Fourth-Largest Automaker

A raid on Mitsubishi offices five months ago yielded the evidence that exploded into one of the largest corporate scandals ever in Japan. Authorities say seized documents, and subsequent admission of fault by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (MMC) and a spinoff, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Co., indicate that since the 1980s, the automakers systematically hid defects involving 800,000 vehicles.

[Frank Lee]

Executives taught me that "it is better to beg for forgiveness than seek permission". In other words, get away with whatever you can until you get caught. Then keep doing it, or something like it.

[Fat Charlie]

And as long as we pocketed our bonuses for making Lumberg's stock go up a quarter of a point, who cares what happens six months from now?