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The
Japanese carmaker last month admitted to overstating the fuel
economy readings in four of its mini-vehicle models.
On Wednesday, it said it suspected improper data was used for
models among the nine current ones on the market as well as
models it no longer sells.
It said it was investigating the matter. It also said it had the
financial resources to do with the issue as a whole.
Mitsubishi Motors earlier in the day submitted an additional
explanation to Japan's transport ministry after officials found
more irregularities with its vehicles following a raid on the
company's research facilities last month.
Analysts have estimated that Mitsubishi may have to pay close to
$1 billion to compensate Japanese mini-vehicle customers for
'eco-car' tax breaks and extra fuel costs.
The misconduct has revived memories of a scandal more than 15
years ago in which Mitsubishi Motors admitted systematically
covering up customer complaints for more than two decades.
Its brand image weakened, it was unable to recover on its own
and received a major bailout from other Mitsubishi Group
companies in 2004 after which it continued to be plagued by
recall and quality issues.
(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Chris
Gallagher)
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