Mitsubishi finds falsified fuel mileage tests

TOKYO – Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the Japanese automaker tarnished by a massive recall cover-up 15 years ago, owned up to another scandal Wednesday, saying employees had intentionally falsified fuel mileage data for several vehicle models.

The inaccurate tests by the Tokyo-based automaker involved 157,000 of its own-brand eK wagon and eK Space light passenger cars, and 468,000 Dayz and Dayz Roox vehicles produced for Nissan Motor Co.

The models are all so-called “minicars” with tiny engines whose main attraction is generally great mileage. They were produced from March 2013.

The scandal adds to the list of cases involving automakers inflating fuel mileage or providing faulty emissions data. It surfaced after Nissan pointed out inconsistencies in data, Mitsubishi said. Mitsubishi Motors conducted an internal probe and found that tire pressure data was falsified to make mileage appear better than it actually was.

“The wrongdoing was intentional. It is clear the falsification was done to make the mileage look better. But why they would resort to fraud to do this is still unclear,” company President Tetsuro Aikawa told reporters.

He and other company executives bowed in apology.

Aikawa said that although he was unaware the irregularities were happening, “I feel responsible.”

The company said it would investigate whether data were altered for vehicles sold overseas. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was checking Wednesday to see if the agency is investigating Mitsubishi models sold in the United States. The EPA lists the 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage subcompact with a three-cylinder engine as getting up to 43 miles per gallon on the highway, among the highest in the U.S. for gasoline-powered cars.

It’s likely that the EPA will take a closer look at Mitsubishi vehicles sold here because of the admission in Japan, said Alan Baum, a consultant in Detroit who advises automakers on fuel-economy regulations. But because the number of cars sold by the company in the U.S. is relatively small, the cars won’t get a high priority, he said. Mitsubishi sold just over 95,000 vehicles in the U.S. last year, only 0.5 percent of the market.

In Japan, Mitsubishi said fuel economy was falsely boosted by about 5 percent or 10 percent on the models, which were billed as getting 71.5 miles per gallon.