Mitsubishi Motors to set up investigation team to check improper conduct in fuel consumption

"In connection with the certification process for the mini-cars manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation ("MMC"), MMC hereby notifies that, yesterday, the board of directors decided to establish a special investigation committee (the "Committee") consisting of only external experts.

MMC expresses its most sincere apologies to all of our customers, shareholders, and stakeholders for any inconvenience or concern caused by this occasion," an official release dated Apr 26, 2016 said.

The committee consists of Keiichi Watanabe, Yoshiro Sakata and Genta Yoshino, who the company says have no conflicts of interest with MMC and the company has recognized no factor that would harm the independence and neutrality of the Committee.

Their activities will consist of the following:

Investigation to uncover the facts surrounding the Matter, including review of related documents and data, and interviews with the related people.

Investigation to confirm the existence of other improper conduct similar to the Matter, and uncover the facts, if it does.

Analysis of the cause of the Matter, and a suggestion on measures to prevent recurrence.

Mitsubishi had earlier revealed that it had falsified fuel economy data for four models.

Reacting sharply to the scandal, Ryugo Nakao, executive vice-president of the company was quoted by BBC as saying, "We should have switched, but it turns out we didn't."

The recent revelations have also affected their shares, which is now on a bearish trail.

This is the second such goof up from the car manufacturers, who were involved in a systematic cover up of vehicle defects almost 15 years ago.