Japan to Review Emission Testing Process

Japan’s transport ministry is setting up a special task force to tighten the country’s emission and fuel economy test methods.

The move was prompted by the revelation that Mitsubishi Motors Corp. falsified fuel efficiency tests for its most popular minicar to bolster the vehicle’s fuel economy rating in Japan.

Transport Minister Keiichi Ishii tells reporters MMC has been given until Wednesday to report the findings of its own internal investigation into the cheating.

The task force represents a heightened review by Japanese regulators into procedures that carmakers could manipulate to produce more favorable certification results. Last October the ministry ordered six carmakers to confirm their diesel-powered vehicles truly meet Japanese emission standards. That request, which was prompted by Volkswagen AG’s admission in September that it rigged 11 million diesels to cheat emission tests, was made to BMW, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and VW.

MMC’s cheating has further intensified efforts by regulatory agencies worldwide to reexamine emission levels of already-certified vehicles. The agencies also are reviewing current test procedures in an attempt to minimize cheating and bring laboratory test results more closely into line with real-world emissions and fuel economy.