Mitsubishi Motors’ sales impacted by recent fuel economy data scandal

Mitsubishi Motors has seen everyday car orders in Japan cut in half because the carmaker confessed recently that it had overemphasized fuel economy information, highlighting the sales damage from a scandal that its president has alerted might impact the company’s “existence”.

The automaker on Wednesday refrained from providing monetary assistance for 2016-17 because the scandal’s full scope is uncertain.

In the year to the end of March, Mitsubishi reported international unit sales of 1.05 m, down 4 percent compared with 2014-15. Sales fell 11 percent in Japan.

For the fourth quarter, Mitsubishi’s net earnings dropped 37 percent to ¥ 12.4 bn due to the stronger yen and costs to close down a plant in the US. Income increased 2.3 percent to ¥ 605.8 bn.

In 2004, the company was close to bankruptcy before it was bailed out by other companies in the Mitsubishi group.

Mitsubishi’s shares have actually lost about half their value since scandal emerged on April 20. Its shares dropped 2.8 percent on Wednesday.