Mitsubishi busted for cheating on fuel economy/emissions tests

[Fat Charlie]

Holy cow, it gets worse:

Mitsubishi Motors: We did false mileage tests since 1991

TOKYO - Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the Japanese automaker that acknowledged last week that it had intentionally lied about fuel economy data for some of its models, said an internal investigation found such tampering dated back to 1991.

President Tetsuro Aikawa told reporters Tuesday the probe was ongoing, suggesting that more irregularities might be found.

Eventually it's all going to come out and we'll find out that it was a Mitsubishi engineer on the grassy knoll.

[MetroMPG]

Nope, it was the butler in the attached garage with a tire pressure gauge!

The company's stock market value is now -50%.

So far it still relates to Japan-only vehicles. In addition to the tire pressure issue on the current Kei vehicles, Reuters is reporting that the company was using U.S. EPA test methodology in place of the Japanese testing on the city segment. Apparently at one time, the EPA version produced better looking numbers.

I wonder how long before Toyota/Honda/Nissan et al are dragged into this.

[Xist]

I am just as bad. I went AWOL Sunday.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

Eventually it's all going to come out and we'll find out that it was a Mitsubishi engineer on the grassy knoll.

I bet it was Hatsuoku over in engine assembly. He's always been a shifty *******, and I heard he steals lunches from the refrigerator too. Fire him!

[Fat Charlie]

I've been over to engine assembly. None of those clowns could ever have made those shots. Yoriyoshi in accounting, on the other hand...

[MetroMPG]

... and other US models.

the Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Mitsubishi to conduct new fuel economy tests on its U.S.-market vehicles. The agency hasn't said whether it suspects Mitsubishi of any wrongdoing, nor has it released specifics about its demands for new efficiency tests. The EPA hasn't indicated whether it plans to conduct its own tests to verify results provided by Mitsubishi.

In light of Mitsubishi's fuel economy fibs, EPA orders new tests

[MetroMPG]

If it weren't for the fact that car manufacturing is just a small portion of Mitsubishi's overall manufacturing empire, I would agree 100%.

[MetroMPG]

First bit of good news since this all started:

Our findings confirm that fuel economy testing data for these U.S. market vehicles is accurate and complies with established EPA procedures,” Don Swearingen, COO of 
Mitsubishi Motors North America, said in a letter to dealers.

http://www.autonews.com/article/2016...-testing-flaws

That confirms what the Mirage Forum fuel log shows: the EPA/NRCAN ratings are realistic, or even a bit conservative. On average, owners are beating the ratings (for both transmissions) having logged ~1.3 million KM and counting.

[Fat Charlie]

I think the EPA is worried less about the accuracy of the rated mileage and more with the methodology of the testing. A cheated test that gives realistic results is still a test that was cheated on. Gubmint regulators frown on that, no matter how many people are beating the published results.

[MetroMPG]

1) Nissan outs Mitsubishi for cheating on fuel economy ratings of 2 Kei cars it supplies to Nissan for re-badging.

2) Mitsubishi's share price tanks 50% as cheating is revealed to affect possibly all of its JDM cars.

3) Nissan swoops in and buys a huge stake in Mitsubishi Motors, effectively taking control of the company.

Well played, Nissan!

Nissan buying $2.2 billion controlling stake in scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors