Oh Dear!

[Carnut]

Clipped from BBC News website today.

Mitsubishi Motors has admitted falsifying fuel economy test data for more than 600,000 vehicles.
Shares in the Japanese car maker closed down more than 15% after it made the announcement.The inaccurate tests involved 157,000 of its own brand light passenger cars and 468,000 vehicles produced for Nissan.The problem was uncovered after Nissan pointed out inconsistencies in emissions data. Mitsubishi then conducted an internal investigation and found that figures had been falsified.
In 2014 South Korean car makers Hyundai and its affiliate, Kia, agreed to pay $350m in US penalties for overstating their vehicles' fuel economy ratings.

 

[Tipper]

Manufacturers have been manipulating consumption figures since they started making cars, even worse now pointless standard figures are supposed to be met.
If it affects the PHEV then frankly I'm not surprised...I didn't believe the consumption figures quoted anyway. It won't affect my ownership or how I use the car in any way. May affect company car users though if any data has to be changed. :twisted:

 

[discorduk]

According to the original Reuters article it is the eK mini-wagon and the version of it they made for Nissan that are affected.

Which seems to be a 657cc 3-cyclinder engined small hatchback sold primarily just in japan.

 

[user 816]

Obviously its bad and wrong, but pumping the tyres up a bit to get a couple more MPG from a lawn mower engined toy car...

....is not in the league of rigging the engine management system to detect an official test and run in a special mode to pass emissions defrauding the drivers and national governments of revenue by under taxing them.

Good old Mitsubishi, they had been on a high, sales like never before, they got a jump on the competition in the plug-in hybrid market, all going nicely, then this. Foot well and truly shot.

 

[SolarBoy]

I don't think this is in the same league as VW (cough cough) and their WW emissions scandal.

It'll soon be forgotten.

 

[Barnfather]

Yes, sharp intake of breath when seeing this news earlier, only to realise they weren't talking about the PHEV.

As for people complaining about published MPG figures - that is a very different subject to emissions, and are inflated by every manufacturer. With PHEV's it's even more tricky as some people - if driving almost exclusively on the battery - will get even better fuel figures, almost to an infinite degree. But aside from that, I can't imagine anyone shelling out £35k-£40k on new car - lease or private - without first realising that their particular usage may not get the full numbers quoted.

 

[onlynik]

Brilliant summary

 

[anko]

With PHEV's it's even more tricky as some people - if driving almost exclusively on the battery - will get even better fuel figures, almost to an infinite degree.

A bout OT, but the numbers advertised do apply to a specific mix of EV and hybrid driving (52 km on battery power followed by 25 km in hybrid mode), so this is not really comparable.

 

[Jimc]

Today I read an update to Mitsubishi Motors saga.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T) said it had used fuel economy testing methods that were not compliant with Japanese regulations for 25 years, much longer than previously known, and would set up an external committee to investigate the matter.

Japan's sixth-largest automaker has lost half of its market value - some $3.9 billion (2.6 billion pounds) - since it admitted last week that it overstated the fuel economy of four domestic mini vehicle models, including two produced for Nissan Motor Co .

The automaker's admission that more models may not comply with Japanese standards has sparked fears of ballooning compensation costs and fines. The U.S auto safety regulator is also seeking information, while Japanese authorities have raided one of its research and development facilities.

Mitsubishi said the committee of external experts will report the results of its investigation in three months.

The automaker has said that it had been compiling data for fuel economy tests using U.S. standards, where higher-speed, highway driving is common, rather than Japanese standards, which are set to reflect driving in the city, where the need to stop more often means more fuel is used.

The company said on Tuesday that it had been submitting non-compliant data to Japan's transport ministry since 1991. Mitsubishi had previously only said such non-compliance went back to at least 2002.

The transport ministry announced earlier in the day that it had set up a task force to examine how other automakers submit fuel economy data. Last week it ordered other domestic automakers to submit fuel economy test data by May 18.

The misconduct has revived memories of a scandal more than 15 years ago in which Mitsubishi admitted to systematically covering up customer complaints for more than 20 years, bringing the company close to collapse.

Back then, it was helped by a bailout from other Mitsubishi Group companies. But now senior officials at other Mitsubishi firms say would be difficult" for them to help the car maker as they face their own financial squeeze, as well as calls to put shareholder returns above ties with the former Mitsubishi business empire.

On Tuesday, Mitsubishi Motors shares ended down nearly 10 percent.


Could this effect the PHEV's.