Mitsubishi President Steps Down Over Fuel Economy Scandal

VOA News
18 May 2016

Japanese automaker Mitsubishi's president is stepping down, controversy erupted last month over a mileage cheating scandal.

Testuro Aikawa appeared with Mitsubishi Chairman Osamu Masuko Wednesday to announce his departure from company, taking responsibility for the scandal. However, he told reporters that he intends to see the investigation through.

Last month, Mitsubishi admitted that several of its employees exaggerated the numbers on its fuel economy data, making several models appear to get better gas mileage than they actually do.

Some of the cars with manipulated data showed fuel economy that was about 15 percent better than in reality.

Mitsubishi, the world's sixth-largest automaker, lost about half of its market value after news of the fuel-rigging scandal broke. A recent deal brokered with Nissan, in which Nissan would take a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi, will not be finalized until the investigation is completed.

The company is no stranger to scandal, nearly going out of business after admitting back in 2000 that it covered up major safety defects for several decades.