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JAPANESE TRANSPORT MINISTRY officials raided a Mitsubishi Motors office this morning following the shock admission by the automaker that it falsified fuel-efficiency tests in more than 600,000 vehicles.
The officials descended on a research and development centre in the city of Nagoya, and the government may slap the under-fire company with fines over the scandal, local media said.
“This has critically damaged consumers’ trust and it won’t be tolerated,” top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said today. “It’s an extremely serious issue.”
Mitsubishi’s Tokyo-listed shares looked set to plunge about 20%, but were untraded owing to an overwhelming number of sell orders.
The firm plunged 15% yesterday before it confirmed reports about its misconduct, which saw unnamed employees rig tests to make cars seems more fuel-efficient than they were.
Mitsubishi said it would halt production and sales of the affected vehicle models – mini-cars sold in Japan including some made for rival Nissan – and warned that the number of affected vehicles would likely rise.
The embarrassing revelation follows a massive pollution-cheating scandal at Volkswagen that erupted in September and which the German giant is still struggling to overcome.
Mitsubishi’s top executive conceded yesterday that the brewing crisis would take a bite out of the automaker’s bottom line, as it widens its probe to cars that it sold overseas.
“This is not a simple problem and we need time” to assess the impact, Mitsubishi president Tetsuro Aikawa told a news briefing.
“But I’m sure there will be an impact. The damage will be big.”
The rigged figures were discovered after Nissan found inconsistencies in fuel-economy data and reported it.
Japan’s number-two automaker said it would halt sales of the affected mini-cars, but added that it had no immediate plans to change its business relationship with Mitsubishi.
Mini-cars, or kei-cars, are small vehicles with 660cc gasoline engines that are hugely popular in the Japanese market, although have found little success abroad.
Mitsubishi sold more than a million vehicles at home and overseas in its latest fiscal year.
The collapse of Mitsubishi’s stock yesterday was its biggest one-day plunge since 2004.
At that time, Mitsubishi was struggling to launch a turnaround as it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, hit by a lack of cash and a series of huge recalls linked to serious defects.
German titan Volkswagen has been hammered by the global scandal that erupted when it emerged that it had installed emissions-cheating software in 11 million diesel engines worldwide.
The costs of the scandal are still incalculable but are expected to run into several billions of dollars as a result of fines and lawsuits.
South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia in 2014 agreed to pay $100 million to settle a US government investigation into exaggerated fuel efficiency on 2012 and 2013 car models sold in the United States.
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Families with children were hit harder than any other group and still are!
Anyone on low to low middle incomes with kids were plunged into poverty by FF/Green and FG/Lab governments – this is shown by statistics and data, the same statistics show that the wealthy in Ireland got progressively more wealthy as we got poorer – the obvious agenda is to redistribute wealth to the top!
People need to get out on the streets – child poverty is at record levels and this awful government has done NOTHING to improve the situation – they’ve made it far worse!
@David Grey: what do you class as the top, you know where you state there is an obvious agenda to redistribute wealth to? What income do you think families stop having financial pressures and suffering?
@David Grey: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/07/opinion/leonhardt-income-inequality.html I thought this graph is an excellent display of how things have changed. It’s US focused but it’s going to be similar here.
@Bilbo Baggins: @Bilbo Baggins: do you are totally ignoring the article, which is about the middle class, and instead want to focus on the 0.001%. I ask you the same question, at which level of income do you think financial pressures and worries end?
@Paul Fahey: about the top 1-3% I’d say Paul. I share your view though that this angle will be used to punish the top 60% instead. (Not ignoring it at all).
@David Mc Nally: really? If you believe families with a salary income of 100k have ordinarily more than one source of income you are wrong and have believed too many of the rhetorical platitudes and falsehoods spewed out with ease and no evidence.
@David Grey: Very well said.
Us families won’t be found on those paradise papers! If mega rich people and companies paid their taxes it might just help!
@Phil Keenan: Labour shamefully and FG only cut from the poorest in their 5 regressive budgets as ERSI already proved. Remember Leo telling families in 2012 to “take a holidayas they were not cut, but Leo and Labour took 9-12 euro a week of rent allowance,electricity units to the elderly and fuel allowance cuts in 2012 whilst only taking 2 euro a week off the wealthiest for the household charge in 2012. Joan & FG slyly cut the pensions of many men and women who took time off to rear their children in 2012 too.
Oh yes….we did not complete three or four mortgage repayments fully, paid over half each month for a few months, built up arrears….both working bit incomes reduced…..jaysus PTSB hounded us…..all paid up now…..but so pushy….and not for the people….to see the credit union do mortgages would be great for us all.
@Richie Curry:
Ulster Bank in my case, knowingly trying to rip customers off. Bet the executives didn’t loose sleep, weight, feel inadequate/suicidal or grind their teeth away !
Latest housing bubble is well under way as anyone trying to buy or even rent the most basic of dives.
The latest housing bubble well under way. Anyone trying to buy or rent even the basic of dives off a a greedy & uncaring of basic habitation standards, only knows too well of housing crisis & don’t need last Thursdays Prime Time to tell them. What’s Leo and FG doing to help tenants by tax evading landlords & vulture funds?
Wealth re-distribution is the State plan.
Also know as having an inclusive society where all the people (especially the the top brass) can have an equal income and quality of life.
What they don’t say is that they need to fleece-tax everyone in the country to achieve it.
They just scutter on with communist babble like comrad Higgins.
Excellent stock photo of ‘middle class worry’
I find the poor middle income landlords affected the most….. When the greed for rent increases kicks in, you have to be prepared for the extra tax that follows. Boo hoo!!!
Keep voting FG/FF/Labour and expect different results? The definition of stupidity.
They DON’T care about you. Wake up.
Hopefully there’re ready for the next one
What is “middle class” anyway? How does one define it, especially against such other classes as professional and managerial???
Aw
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