Suzuki Cheated On Mileage And Emissions Tests

In a major blow to the Japanese carmaker, Suzuki Motor announced that the company used improper fuel economy and emissions tests on its vehicles in Japan. According to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan, Suzuki, along with Mazda and Toyota have accepted to having cheated on the emissions tests and submitted a report of samples of manufactured vehicles selected during the quality assurance process. Moreover, the samples were found to have been tested under incorrect driving conditions. However, the company is not considering product recall at this moment.

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At a press conference, Suzuki President Toshihiro Suzuki said, "It is a significant fact that such a large number of our products were improperly processed, and we take it seriously," he said. "We failed to educate our staff in an in-depth and extensive manner."

Suzuki unearthed improper tests on 6,401 units out of 12,819 since 2012, while Mazda detected inappropriate testing on 72 vehicles out of 1,875 since 2014. Yamaha found seven instances out of 335 since 2016. The transport ministry will change its ministerial ordinance to request automakers save test results of manufactured vehicles and take measures to prevent alteration of results.

"It is extremely regrettable that this situation makes users anxious over the quality of vehicles and the quality control operations of carmakers," said Transport Minister Keiichi Ishii.

Also Read: Nissan Admits To Falsifying Emissions Data

Earlier this year, Nissan joined the increasing list of automakers who have admitted to falsifying data as regards emission or fuel economy. The company said it had uncovered falsified data from car exhaust emissions tests at most of its plants based in Japan. It further states that since the discovery in September 2017 of nonconformities in the final vehicle inspection process at its plants in Japan.