Mazda Made Errors During MPG Tests for Japanese-Market Cars

After it came to light that Mitsubishi, Nissan, and to a lesser degree, Subaru had all misreported fuel economy data, Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) ordered investigations into other Japanese manufacturers. Now, Mazda has revealed that it, too, is guilty of improper vehicle tests and data reporting.

In its report to MLIT, Mazda said its investigation found that test data was “handled inappropriately” in 72 of the 1,472 fuel economy tests it reviewed. Those cases contained speed trace errors, meaning vehicle speed deviated from the parameters dictated by Japan’s JC08 test cycle. However, Mazda says it found “no improper alteration or falsification of test data” in its any of its fuel economy tests.

“We would like to offer our sincere apologies for the concern this matter has caused our customers and to all stakeholders,” Mazda said in its report. “We are treating this matter very seriously and will make every effort to prevent similar occurrences in the future.”

The automaker blames its own testing procedures for the inaccurate data in the above cases. Mazda’s system wasn’t set up to automatically reject test results when a speed trace error was detected, so it was up to the human inspectors in the tests to decide whether the data was invalid. To ensure this doesn’t happen again, Mazda says it will update the system to automatically throw out tests with such errors and require all data be checked by multiple employees.

Reuters reports that Yamaha and Suzuki also found testing errors during their respective investigations. In Suzuki’s case, out of 12,819 vehicles tested since June 2012, roughly 50 percent were found to be improperly inspected. Despite the number of improper vehicle inspections, none of the automakers involved broke any laws or plan to issue recalls. That’s largely due to the fact that they found no evidence that actual emissions or fuel economy performance for the vehicles, which are all sold in Japan, was affected in any way.

While Mazda’s mistakes come nowhere near the level of Volkswagen’s emissions cheating, they serve as further evidence that not all automakers are doing things by the book when it comes to testing and reporting fuel economy and emissions. By cracking down now, let’s hope regulators around the globe can keep everyone on their toes and prevent another major emissions scandal.

Source: Mazda, Reuters

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