Outside Auditor to Monitor MMC’s Engineering Unit

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is preparing to hire an outside auditor to review its product development and engineering activities, blamed for at least three cheating scandals, company sources tell Reuters.

We’ve not been able to put in place a system that could prevent cheating and irregularities,” one source admits. It isn’t clear when MMC will finalize the decision or who it will select to monitor the group.

In April the company admitted it has cheated on fuel economy ratings for four of its model—two of them sold under the Nissan brand—for 25 years. In 2004 MMC was found guilty of covering up safety defects for nearly 30 years. In 2000 it was found guilty of hiding customer complaints from Japanese government watchdog agencies.

President Testuro Aikawa and Ryugo Nakao, vice president of product development, both are resigning this month as a result of the most recent scandal.

Reuters cites insiders who say the company’s engineering staff has been arrogant, secretive and resistant to a decade of efforts led by CEO Osamu Masuko to reform the operation.