Mitsubishi Motors busted for manipulating fuel economy tests

[Shawn Knight]

First Volkswagen, now Mitsubishi. The Japanese automaker on Wednesday said employees tampered with fuel consumption tests in an effort to artificially boost the fuel economy rating of select vehicles.

Mitsubishi said in a statement that affected vehicles include the eK Wagon and eK Space, both of which are mini-car models sold in Japan under Mitsubishi’s brand. Mitsubishi also manufactures and sells the mini-cars to Nissan which it markets as the Nissan Dayz and Dayz Roox.

The automaker said it has sold 157,000 models with misleading fuel economy ratings under its own brand and supplied another 468,000 to Nissan.

Ironically enough, it was Nissan that discovered the discrepancy during its own internal testing. Nissan has suspended sales of the Dayz and Dayz Roox as the investigation continues. Mitsubishi, meanwhile, has halted both manufacturing and sales of the mini-cars and will conduct an investigation into vehicles manufactured for overseas markets.

Mitsubishi Motors president Tetsuro Aikawa said during a press conference that the wrongdoing was intentional and that it was clear that the falsification was done to make the mileage look better. The executive claims he was unaware of the fraudulent activity but said he did feel responsible.

Bloomberg says the tests overstated fuel efficiency by five to 10 percent by modifying tire pressure and air resistance to yield better results. Shares in Mitsubishi Motors are down more than 15 percent as of writing, representing its biggest one-day fall in nearly 12 years according to the BBC.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/64513-mitsubishi-motors-busted-manipulating-fuel-economy-tests.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Fine, great, they lied .... certainly nothing new in the automotive industry but just once I would like to see the courts order they reimburse the auto owners their fair share of the penalties rather than to the government or another one of those worthless rebates to induce you to buy another one of their cars.

 

[Darth Shiv]

They lied. It's clear they will abuse the system as much as they can get away with. Like VW, govt should make an example of them that this practice is inexcusable with an enormous punitive fine and sanctions.

 

[Burty117]

I'm telling you, they all do it, ALL of them. I've driven a lot of cars over the last 7 years (company cars and my own) and I've driven them all 10,000+ miles. Almost none of them get anything close to the quoted miles per gallon.

Only cars that get close or better are Mazda's latest SkyActiv engines, some BMW's and VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda petrol's can if driven softly. But generally French petrol engines don't get anywhere near (their diesel's though tend to get quite good mpg if not close to the quoted MPG).

The worst are Vauxhall petrol's. I'm pretty certain they're own MPG readout in the cars lie as well. A tank of fuel does not last as long in a Vauxhall as long compared to an Audi or Mazda or even a BMW for that matter.

 

[yRaz]

The reasons all these companies are lying about fuel economy is that we are reaching the limits of mechanical efficiency. Governments don't understand that you can't legislate your way around the laws of physics.

 

[VitalyT]

The are two types of liars - bad ones that get caught, and good ones. I couldn't care less for Mitsubishi.

 

[davislane1]

The reasons all these companies are lying about fuel economy is that we are reaching the limits of mechanical efficiency. Governments don't understand that you can't legislate your way around the laws of physics.

But muh global warming climate change?

(Edited for clarity.)

 

[cliffordcooley]

It's strange not seeing a UPS logo.

 

[wiyosaya]

The reasons all these companies are lying about fuel economy is that we are reaching the limits of mechanical efficiency. Governments don't understand that you can't legislate your way around the laws of physics.

In one aspect, I agree with you.

As I see it, though, vehicle manufacturers continue to make vehicles out of metals that have high mass and require a lot of energy to move. Lightweight materials have been around for quite some time, but manufacturers constantly b1tch "they cost too much" much as they did when seat belts and air bags were introduced.

Those lightweight materials could easily double the fuel efficiency on many existing vehicles including the biggest SUVs. But, instead of going down the path that leads to greater integrity in their business practices, and oh by the way, lesser cost of those materials through mass production, companies like VW and Mitsubishi choose to believe that they can pull a fast one on their customers and not get caught. I would not be surprised if more skeletons fall out of the closets elsewhere...