Mitsubishi Motors admits falsifying fuel economy tests

Tyre pressure figures were falsified by employees to flatter
mileage rates, the company said.
Almost 470,000 vehicles that Mitsubishi made for Nissan were
affected and the issue was uncovered after Nissan found
inconsistencies.
The announcement sent shares in Mitsubishi down more than
15% in Tokyo.
Company bosses, including Mitsubishi Motors president
Tetsuro Aikawa, bowed deeply at the start of a press
conference on Wednesday afternoon in Tokyo.
"The wrongdoing was intentional. It is clear the falsification
was done to make the mileage look better. But why they would
resort to fraud to do this is still unclear," he said.
Although he was unaware of the irregularities, Mr Aikawa said:
"I feel responsible."
The inaccurate tests involved 157,000 of its own cars and
468,000 vehicles produced for Nissan.
The issue affected models including Mitsubishi's ek Wagon
and eK Space, as well as Nissan's Dayz and Dayz Roox.
All are "mini-cars" with 660cc petrol engines and are popular
in Japan but have found little success in other markets.
Lance Bradley, UK managing director of Mitsubishi Motors,
said there was no evidence that any models sold in the UK or
Europe were affected.
The company is Japan's sixth-largest car maker and sold more
than one million vehicles last year, but has less than 1% of the
UK market.
The issue was reported to Japan's transportation ministry and
Nissan told dealers to stop selling the affected vehicles. It was
considering ways to help owners of the affected cars.
Shares in Mitsubishi Motors closed down 131 yen at 733 yen
in Tokyo - their biggest one-day fall in nearly 12 year