Japan’s transport ministry has announced that eight more models sold by Mitsubishi have overstated fuel economy figures, and has ordered to stop domestic sales of those models.
This is the second such order in the past few months, with the ministry saying that its investigation found the fuel economy on various models including the Pajero, Outlander and RVR were lower than what’s advertised.
“Our investigation confirmed that the fuel economy on eight models … were as much as 8.8% and on average 4.2 % lower than advertised,” the ministry said in a statement, Automobile News reported.
When the Mitsubishi fuel economy scandal first broke, the automaker admitted to using unapproved methods to calculate mileage for 25 years, adding that it also used estimates, rather than data from actual tests to calculate fuel economy from its compact vehicles.
Domestic sales have tumbled for Mitsubishi in Japan following the stop-sale orders by the government and it expects to post a loss for the first time in eight years. As a result of the scandal, Nissan agreed to buy a controlling one-third stake for $2.2-billion.
Recalls
Mitsubishi is recalling 82,436 vehicles from the 2015 and 2016 model year. The recall affects the continuously variable transmissions, or CVTs, in 2015-16 Outlander Sports, 2016 Outlanders, and 2016 Lancers. Mitsubishi calls their Jatco manufactured CVT a constant velocity transmission.
According to the document Mitsubishi submitted to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the CVTs in certain vehicles can momentarily lose signal and delay acceleration. This can increase the risk of an accident.
It is unknown if there are any injuries or deaths related to this issue. Dealerships will reprogram affected CVTs for free.
