Mitsubishi Motors receives second reprimand concerning mileage data fraud

The transport ministry on Thursday released a 2nd reprimand to Mitsubishi Motors for car mileage information fraud after it discovered the company continued to manipulate figures after admitting to the practice in April.

The ministry stated it once again discovered a lack of legal compliance and inadequate governance at the business, calling the scenario “abnormal”.

After receiving the written reprimand, Mitsubishi Motors Chairman Osamu Masuko informed reporters, “We’ve forgotten our principle of putting clients and compliance first. We take (the second reprimand) seriously and deeply apologize.”

On September 2, the ministry performed its 3rd examination at the automaker over the mileage scandal.

It discovered the company continued mileage data manipulation for nine designs despite confessing to the fraud for four minivehicles in April.

On August 30, Mitsubishi Motors voluntarily halted sales of eight of the 9 models since their fuel economy was far lower than marketed.

The company at first stated that sales of the models would resume after two weeks. But authorities stated Thursday this was now unlikely to happen till a minimum of the end of this month.