Subaru Probed For Falsified Fuel Mileage Data; How it Affects US Consumers
The Japan government isn’t done investigating Subaru Corporation’s fuel mileage cheating scandal that has rocked the small Japanese automaker. According to Japan’s Mainichi, the Japan government showed up at company headquarters today in Tokyo to search for falsified fuel mileage and emissions data for new vehicles at its Gunma plant where they they manufacture the all-new 2019 Subaru Forester SUV, Crosstrek crossover, WRX, and WRX STI performance cars, and BRZ/Toyota 86 sports coupe.
Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism instructed Subaru Corp to conduct an internal investigation into allegations of fuel economy and emissions data manipulation back in October 2017. Subaru issued a statement on April 27, 2018 saying fuel economy and emissions data had been manipulated and there were 903 vehicles for which data was inappropriately altered.
Subaru conducted an internal investigation and released a report last month saying based on the employees’ statements, there was a high probability that manipulation of fuel economy and emissions data commenced around 2002. Japan’s transportation ministry is now questioning Subaru’s senior officials about the report and will determine what measures to take.
EPA says it doesn’t affect US vehicles
Torque News reported back in December, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said they had not found significant discrepancies in emissions tests of any Subaru vehicles sold in the US. The EPA report said the Subaru vehicles under investigation in Japan are not sold in the United States, saying “The tests are not the same as those used to determine emissions certification or fuel economy ratings of Subaru models sold in the United States.”
Subaru will not be recalling any new 2019 Subaru Forester, Crosstrek, WRX, WRX STI or BRZ Toyota 86 vehicles as a result of this investigation. It does not affect any U.S. models and consumers should not be affected. The investigation has given the Japanese automaker a black eye in Japan.
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Photo credit: Subaru USA
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