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Tetsuro Aikawa,
president of Japan's sixth-largest automaker by market value,
bowed in apology at a news conference in Tokyo for what is the
biggest scandal at Mitsubishi Motors since a defect cover-up
over a decade ago.
Shares in the company closed down more than 15 percent at 733
yen, the stock's biggest one-day drop in almost 12 years.
In 2000, Mitsubishi Motors revealed that it covered up safety
records and customer complaints. Four years later it admitted to
broader problems going back decades. It was Japan's worst
automotive recall scandal at the time.
The company said on Wednesday the test manipulation involved
625,000 vehicles produced since mid-2013. These include its eK
mini-wagon as well as 468,000 similar cars it made for Nissan
Motor <7201.T>.
It said it would stop making and selling those cars, and has set
up an independent panel to investigate the issue.
Mitsubishi Motors sold just over 1 million cars last year.
Mitsubishi Motors is the first Japanese automaker to report
misconduct involving fuel economy tests since Volkswagen
<VOWG_p.DE> was discovered last year to have cheated diesel
emissions tests in the United States and elsewhere.
South Korean car makers Hyundai Motor Co <005380.KS> and
affiliate Kia Motors Corp <000270.KS> in 2014 agreed to pay $350
million in penalties to the U.S. government for overstating
their vehicles' fuel economy ratings. They also resolved claims
from car owners.
(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Ian
Geoghegan)
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