The ongoing Mitsubishi fuel economy scandal is continuing to worsen for the company, with the new revelation that a further 8 of the company’s models have overstated fuel economy figures, including one that’s sold in the US, according to recent reports.
Following the news (the result of a government investigation), the Transport Ministry of Japan ordered the company to halt domestic sales of the models in question — which include popular models such as the Outlander SUV, the Pajero, and the RVR SUV (sold as the Outlander Sport in the US, pictured below).
The ministry statement read: “Our investigation confirmed that the fuel economy on eight models … were as much as 8.8% and on average 4.2% lower than advertised.”
Auto News provides some more information: “It ordered the automaker to stop selling those eight models while it submits correct readings, a process the ministry expected would take a few weeks. The announcement could prompt another fall in the automaker’s domestic sales after it stopped selling the four affected mini-vehicle models between April and June. Possible compensation costs linked to the latest affected models may also hurt Mitsubishi’s bottom line.”
As we’ve reported previously, Mitsubishi has been hit so heavily by the scandal that the company was forced to sell a one-third stake to Nissan for $2.2 billion.
As we also reported previously, an internal report on the matter found that company execs were first made aware of the fraud all the way back in 2005, and have been made aware of it numerous times since then. Apparently, an employee survey a few years back even got multiple complaints on the matter. Despite all of this, nothing was done.
The company is reportedly heading into the red this year, for the first time in 8 years, with a net-loss of ~$1.4 billion expected. Previous to the scandal, Mitsubishi was responsible for around 10% of all vehicle sales in Japan.
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