Mitsubishi Motors Office Raided In Japan, Shares Tumble After Automaker Confesses To Manipulating Mileage Tests

Transport ministry officials in Japan raided a Mitsubishi Motors office Thursday after the automaker admitted it had manipulated fuel-economy tests in about 625,000 vehicles. The company has reportedly been ordered to submit a full report over the altered data by Wednesday.

“This has critically damaged consumers’ trust and it won’t be tolerated,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. “It’s an extremely serious issue.”

The officials raided Mitsubishi’s plant in a central Japanese city of Okazaki. The Japanese government is likely to impose fine on the company for the scandal.

The shares of Japan's sixth-biggest automaker looked set to hit a record low and were untraded Thursday because of an overwhelming number of sell orders. The company's latest share price on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was indicated at 583 yen a share, a 20 percent plunge from the previous day's close.

Mitsubishi's shares had slumped over 15 percent Wednesday, when it said it falsified data on mileage test on light vehicles. The models of the vehicles that were affected include those supplied to Nissan Motor, which reported the discrepancy in data, Mitsubishi said.

“We have decided to stop production and sales of the applicable cars. NM [Nissan Motor] also has stopped sales of the applicable cars, and MMC [Mitsubishi Motors] and NM will discuss compensation regarding this issue,” Mitsubishi said.

This is the first time a Japanese automaker has been involved in manipulating fuel-economy tests. German carmaker Volkswagen was last year found to have cheated in diesel emissions tests in the United States and other countries.