[The cars in image above are not related to this article - Courtesy of Mitsubishi Motors]
Mitsubishi Motors, one of Japan's largest car makers, has admitted "improper conduct in fuel consumption testing" on Wednesday. According to the car maker, fuel consumption cheated engines are fitted into a total of 625,000 cars.
The company issued a statement explaining that a Mitsubishi staff carried out fuel consumption testing in an improper way to come up with better results than the actual fuel consumption. The company also added that the method used in testing was different from the one required by Japanese law.
Fuel consumption cheating was conducted on two of the company's models- the eK Wagon and eK Space along with two models Mitsubishi manufactured and supplied to Nissan- the Dayz and Dayz Roox.
157,000 of Mitsubishi cars and 468,000 Nissan cars were released into the market with fiddled test results. According to Wall Street Journal's report, Mitsubishi's stock price has fallen 15 percent.
Mitsubishi explained that the company came up with the better (cheated) test result by reducing the running resistance during the fuel consumption tests. Experts believe the company reduced the running resistance by reducing the actual load of the vehicles.
Running resistance is also known as rolling resistance. It's mainly generated by friction created between the tires and the road and also includes air resistance while the vehicles are on the move. The easiest way to alter the running resistance is reducing the total weight of the vehicles.
Upon the scandal breakout, Mitsubishi stated that the company learned of the improper conduct during an internal investigation. Nissan stopped selling all models related to the scandal and Mitsubishi is planning to "discuss compensation regarding this issue." The company also plans to "carry out an investigation into products manufactured for overseas markets."
This is the largest car related scandal since Volkswagen's emissions cheating last year. Some experts of the industry speculate that there may be more car makers which have cars released into the market with cheated test results.
아주경제 박세진 기자 = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com