Japanese automaker, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation’s domestic vehicle sales dropped more than double in May from 2015 after the automaker was hit by a fuel economy manipulation scandal, available data have shown.
The automobile manufacturer marked a 51.4 per cent year-on-year fall to 2,766 units as the automaker suspended the production of four minicar models, including those supplied to Nissan, after admitting to falsifying fuel efficiency data.
Minicar sales slid 75 per cent to 912 units at Mitsubishi and 76.8 per cent to 3,105 units at Nissan and the domestic output of Mitsubishi plunged 39.8 per cent to 24,335 units while that of Nissan was down 2.5 per cent at 65,309 units.
The fuel economy scandal that first emerged in late April rocked the domestic auto industry at a time when automakers are trying to shore up demand for minicars featuring engines not larger than 660cc.
The Japanese Ministry of Transport found that the fuel economy of Mitsubishi minicar models was up to 16 per cent worse than their stated catalog figures. Mitsubishi hopes to resume the production of the minicar models affected by the scandal in July after submitting revised data.
