Mitsubishi Motors overstated fuel economy of eight more vehicle models

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. overstated the fuel economy on eight vehicle models, in addition to the four others that the Japanese automaker admitted to earlier this year.

Japan’s Transport Ministry has ordered Mitsubishi Motors to correct the numbers, which were off by as much as 8.8% on some vehicles, including its popular Pajero sport utility vehicle (SUV).

The company has suspended sales of these eight car models in Japan after the announcement.

Japan requires automakers to conduct road tests to gather fuel-economy data. However, in some cases, Mitsubishi only calculated these figures, the report said.

An investigation conducted by the company pointed to poor communication, slack governance and pressure on “resource-starved” engineers as the root of Mitsubishi’s problems.

Mitsubishi said it would set aside JPY 7 billion (USD 68.3 million), in addition to the JPY 150 billion (USD 1.4 billion) it has already earmarked earlier, to compensate owners of these affected vehicles.