Mitsubishi, Denso probed in Germany over emission allegations

Berlin

MITSUBISHI Motors Corp and Denso Corp had their German operations probed by investigators over allegations that they may be involved in equipping diesel engines with devices to cheat on emissions tests.

Police and prosecutors began investigating 10 sites across Germany, Nadja Niesen, a spokeswoman for Frankfurt prosecutors, wrote in an e-mailed statement. A spokeswoman for Denso, a car parts supplier, confirmed that it was also raided in Germany and that it is cooperating with authorities. Separately, three of the locations raided belong to supplier Continental AG, which is a witness in the probe and is cooperating fully, according to a statement from the company.

"There's suspicion that the engines were equipped with a defeat device set up to meet emissions limits during testing but not in real driving conditions," Ms Niesen said. "The use of such a device is prohibited under EU law."

Tatsuo Yoshida, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, said that a possible recall could involve as many as 400,000 vehicles and cost as much as 30 billion (S$368 million) to 40 billion yen, including legal costs. "This could become a serious issue," he said.

Authorities are looking at Mitsubishi's 1.6-litre and 2.2-litre 4-cylinder Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesel engines, asking drivers who acquired cars with the motors since 2014 to contact the police. Drivers may have been defrauded because vehicles with defeat devices are bearing the risk of losing the necessary licence to use them on the streets, according to prosecutors. BLOOMBERG