Gov't says Mitsubishi Motors cheated on mileage by up to 16%

But..but...but... Japanese cars are so much better than the rest of the world's.... aren't they? I mean in the big scheme of things, what is a few sticky brake pedals, electronic engine control box meltdowns, exploding air bags, defective transmissions. Right?...... hello... hello

The automaker has repeatedly promised to fix its ethical standards.

Mitsubishi you owe me for a new keyboard! I just spit my coffee on it! Easy to "fix" when you don't have any to begin with.

Japanese government... stopped short of slapping further penalties on the company

What penalties did they slap on the company, then (if there are no further ones)?

Does the answer rhyme with nun?

IF MMC was a foreign firm they'd be banned for a least a year from selling in Japan as punishment and face stiff financial fines.

Part of that problem is compliance issues or the unwillingness of foreign corporate leaders from lying prostrate though that prevents foreign firms from getting the same preferential treatment I would think.

I agree with domtoidi that people rarely buy cars because of fuel economy. In Japan, I suspect many buy new cars because they look "wakai". Many of the top sellers have blingy bodywork, including top selling keis like the Tanto Custom and Wagon R.

However, cars create pollution that affects everyone and lying about fuel economy (over and above the non-real world testing environment) is lying about pollution. That is unacceptable. Most rival cars are pretty much identical, so fuel economy also becomes one way to split hairs between them.

hahah ... Toyota next month... they all are crooks!

What penalties did they slap on the company, then (if there are no further ones)? Does the answer rhyme with nun?

Cheating Japanese Corp and Govt maybe consider a Penalty the truth to be disclosed about your own cheating. The Japanese govt, once again, by doing nothing, shows how much Japanese corporation can cheat and have customers deceived as long as you are running a big brand name.

Where are the punishments?

Thats about what you expect for the JC08 testing results, so really the whole system is corrupt to start with

We cannot believe Mitsubishi car anymore except for special lovers to them. If they had missed our believes even once, it's very difficult to give back for makers.

A friend of mine was paying off a car loan for his X and it was a Mitsubishi mini. She totaled it, and he still had to pay it off. She took the insurance money and bought another new one. So does this mean she will be getting ¥200,000 while he is still stuck paying off the old one?

Forecast for FY2016 is 962,000 units, a decrease of 8% or 86,000 units over the same period in FY2015. Sales volumes by region are as follows:

Japan: 60,000 units, down 41% or 42,000 units year-on-year

North America: 138,000 units, up 2% or 3,000 units year-on-year

Europe: 187,000 units, down 9% or 19,000 units year-on-year

Asia: 331,000 units, up 3% or 9,000 units year-on-year

Other regions: 246,000 units, down 13% or 37,000 units year-on-year

-They are forecasting a negative profit for FY2016, but I think they will remain (barely) positive and the Takata airbag recalls do not effect them as much. Biggest concern is their dated technology, models and interiors (no Apple CarPlay/Android etc). The Japan downturn in sales is really bad, but Asia will carry them (Philippines etc).

"except for special lovers to them"

Well, you know, thanks for acknowledging that love is blind. It can't read either. And it can't add up mileage figures.

I do in fact own a Mitzi. She tells me she is not involved in this scandal, and I believe her. She has been with me all these years and she hauls. Who cares if she eats a little too much? At least she is low maintenance.

What we don't know is how many people in Japan or in the world make a buying decision based on gas mileage (kiloage?).

For all we know, it could be 1%.

Mitsubishi used the best condition test setup as the efficiency, instead of the average of tests. Most of the differences were in the 5-10% range.

These were just K-cars. People buy them to save the shaken and road tax and they are rarely driven for long distances.

Customers didn't complain because no one thought about checking to see if they spent an extra 2 yen per week more than they expected.