Suzuki Motor Corp., Mazda Motor Corp. and Yamaha Motor Co., according to the Ministry's findings, have reported a total of 6400 vehicles in 2004 for irregular fuel consumption tests.
Last month, the Ministry of Transport obliged 23 vehicle manufacturers to review quality control procedures after Nissan Motor Co. and Subaru Corp. automakers acknowledged that untrusted fuel consumption and emission data were provided for some of their products.
The ministry has found that Suzuki, Mazda and Yamaha have given emission and consumption data in some cases that certain measurement parameters, such as speed, were not set according to the test requirements.
"We have not given us false information, but it is also a serious problem that we have done the wrong measurements on such a large number of vehicles. We take very seriously, " said Suzuki Motorcycle President Suzuki Tosihiro (Tokyo Suzuki) at a press conference in Tokyo, adding that he would personally direct the development of measures to prevent similar cases. He said: lack of training of employees and lack of personal controls by work leaders led to irregular measurements.
Yamaha Motor Company vice president, Vatanabe Kacuaki (Katsuaki Watanabe), announced that the company's management and quality control department did not know that the test results of the consumption tests are scattered to the extent that it would require repeat testing.
"We were not aware that we would have done anything wrong, " he said at a press conference in Tokyo, apologizing for failing to apply the measurement procedure required by law.
Suzuki, Mazda and Yamaha have announced that preventive measures are taken to ensure that measurement gaps can not be repeated. By acquiring new devices, for example, it is impossible for the staff performing the measurement to change the parameters. The ministry has announced that it will oblige vehicle manufacturing companies to take action to archive measurement results and modify data.
The shares of the three vehicle manufacturing companies weakened on Thursday after the announcement on the Tokyo Stock Exchange: Suzuki dropped by six percent, Yamaha four and a half percent, Mazda dropped nearly one and a half percent.
