Mitsubishi Motors has admitted they cheated efficiency tests to overstate the fuel economy of 625,000 vehicles.
The Japanese automaker's tomfoolery was outted by Nissan, a sales partner in its minicar venture.
According to Bloomberg, Mitsubishi modified the weight of cars during testing, as well as used inaccurate tire and air resistance numbers in computer models.
These tests overstated fuel economy between 5 and 10 percent.
Most of the effected vehicles are Kei style cars exclusive to the Japanese market.
Mitsubishi has halted sales and production of the eK Wagon, eK Space, as well as the Nissan badged Dayz and Dayz Roox. 157,000 Mitsubishi cars and 468,000 Nissan cars are involved. A Nissan spokesperson said that sales will not resume until the two companies hold talks regarding compensation.
The fuel economy violations may result in Mitsubishi having to pay back government tax for the vehicles. Mitsubishi's shares fell 15% on the announcement.
Mitsubishi is the latest automaker to come under increased scrutiny for fudging environmental performance numbers. Volkswagen was implicated last year for rigging their diesel vehicles to cheat US emissions tests.
Source: Bloomberg, Engadget
Photo by: DY5W-sport via Wikipedia, used under CC 3.0 license
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