U.S. Looking Into Mitsubishi Amid Fuel Economy Scandal in Japan

U.S. regulators have asked Mitsubishi for more information on its vehicles sold stateside, according to a report from Reuters. The inquiry comes just days after the automaker admitted to manipulating fuel economy data on its cars overseas.

An official from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed to Reuters that the U.S. government is seeking more information. But he wouldn’t say which models are under examination.

So far, we only know of four models affected by overstated fuel economy numbers. The cars — including the eK Wagon and eK Space as well as the Dayz and Dayz Roox produced for Nissan — are sold in Japan but will be discontinued. Mitsubishi said it fudged the numbers on these cars to gain a “favorable reading for its fuel economy certification.”

Mitsubishi has admitted there may be more models that violate Japanese regulations, other than the ones that have been revealed so far. Media outlets have reported that Mitsubishi provided misleading mileage data for its i-MiEV electric car. The Sankei newspaper reported about suspicions that Mitsubishi was using non-Japanese testing procedures on vehicles such as the Outlander and Pajero.

On Thursday, Japanese officials raided Mitsubishi’s research facility in Nagoya, Japan. The plant raids were expected to continue through today.

When the scandal first broke, Mitsubishi told us it was unaware of any models in the U.S. with misleading fuel economy numbers. Only time will tell if that’s the case.

Source: Reuters

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