Mitsubishi Motors raided after fuel-economy scandal widens

[TOKYO] Mitsubishi Motors Corp's headquarters and Nagoya plant were raided by government officials on Friday, deepening the crisis for a Japanese automaker struggling to recover from a mileage manipulation scandal.

The raid comes after Japan's sixth-largest automaker said this week that more of its vehicle models were involved in a mileage cheating scandal than initially stated. "We want to thoroughly investigate the circumstances that led to this situation," Transport Minister Keiichi Ishii told reporters.

Mr Ishii also said the ministry sent documents to other automakers to enforce compliance with rules for calculating mileage.

Shares of Mitsubishi Motors ended morning trading almost unchanged. The automaker's market value has tumbled since the scandal broke.

Mitsubishi has said it used unapproved methods to calculate mileage for 25 years, and also used estimates - rather than data from tests - to calculate the fuel economy of its mini-vehicles.

The fallout prompted the automaker to seek financial assistance from Nissan Motor Co Ltd, which agreed to buy a controlling one-third stake for US$2.2 billion.

REUTERS