Mitsubishi Is In Serious Trouble

2017 Mitsubishi Mirage (Credit: Mitsubishi )

Mitsubishi was just caught in what has to be the funniest and most low-tech fuel economy cheat uncovered yet. While you can laugh about it, the situation could spell disaster for the automaker. That’s not good, because this could be the end for Mitsubishi.

If you don’t know, Mitsubishi over-inflated tires to cheat fuel economy estimates for over 600,000 vehicles in the Japanese market. It was Nissan who blew the whole thing open and reported it to the government. Nissan sells a couple of rebadged Mitsubishis in Japan, and that’s how it discovered the cheat.

Reuters says that Japanese officials actually raided a Mitsubishi facility as part of the investigation. At the same time, the automaker’s Japanese stocks sunk like the Titanic. Analysts think the cheat will cost Mitsubishi over $450 million. Then there’s the whole damaged reputation issue that could cost the company even more.

This isn’t the first time Mitsubishi has been raided by the Japanese government while under intense scrutiny. About ten years ago it was caught covering up vehicle defects. That triggered a huge recall and put Mitsubishi on the ropes.

Now people are wondering if Mitsubishi cheated on fuel economy estimates in other markets with other vehicles. Maybe this is the automotive gods getting revenge for the death of the Evo.