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Japanese authorities tore through Suzuki’s global headquarters last night in an effort to uncover documents that could reveal whether the company intentionally manipulated fuel economy tests, the BBC reports. The raid was part of an ongoing investigation, which comes after the automaker announced previous “discrepancies” in its emissions testing last month.
In May, Suzuki stated in a press release that the inconsistencies in the company’s emissions testing stemmed from a lack of manpower following the financial meltdown of 2008. After the fiscal disaster, the company claimed, it couldn’t devote an appropriate number of personnel to the officially-mandated tests used to collect fuel economy data. Instead, the automaker used alternative testing methods that were not considered acceptable substitutes under Japanese government standards.
The automaker said that 14 of its own models and 12 cars sold under other nameplates were part of the improper testing protocol, but that the testing problem only affects cars sold in Japan. Suzuki also said an internal investigation concluded none of its employees had intentionally manipulated the fuel consumption tests.
The Suzuki news is just the latest environmental scandal to emerge from the Japanese auto industry. In April, the headquarters of Mitsubishi Motors was raided by Japanese officials after the carmaker announced it had been falsely stating fuel economy numbers for 25 years. Shortly afterwards, Nissan Motor Company purchased a controlling stake in Mitsubishi for $2.2 billion, although both companies claimed the deal had been in the works prior to the scandal.
And of course, no post on automotive environmental scandal would be complete without the obligatory link to our Dieselgate coverage.
