Toyota boosts presence in Poland on Brexit woes: media

RTL – AFP, 28 October 2019

'Brexit confusion' may have helped swing the decision Poland's way / GETTY
IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Toyota said on Monday that it would boost production of components for hybrid vehicles at its plants in EU member Poland, with local media reporting the choice of location was underpinned by uncertainty over Brexit.

Toyota Motor Europe said it would invest 140 million euros ($155 million) in Poland to increase production at its hybrid-oriented plant in the southwestern city of Walbrzych, according to a Monday statement.

"High interest in this (hybrid) technology in Europe, confirmed by rapidly growing sales, which now already amount to over 50 percent of the total volume of orders for Toyota models, resulted in the decision to locate two further investments in our Polish factory," Toyota said in a Monday statement.

Toyota chose Poland for its only other hybrid production and development facility outside Japan, it added.

Although the company made no reference to the challenges it faces in Europe posed by Brexit, Polish media were quick to underline that uncertainty over the terms of Britain's withdrawal from the EU meant the company chose not to expand production at its plants in the UK.

Several Polish media sources said that Toyota had initially planned to expand production at its Deeside engine plant in Britain, but changed its mind over concerns linked to Brexit.

"Although Toyota does not want to comment on this, the increase in investment in Poland was also affected by the confusion associated with Brexit," wrote Puls Biznesu, a leading Polish economic daily, on Monday.

Plans call for the new investment in Poland to be completed by 2022, giving Toyota's two plants in Poland the capacity to produce some 309,000 hybrid engines per year.

The engines are destined for Toyota, PSA and Lotus assembly lines in the Czech Republic, Britain, France, Turkey and Russia, as well as in South Africa and Japan.

Crisis-hit Nissan CEO resigns amid pay probe

Yahoo – AFP, Etienne BALMER, 9 September 2019

Reports in Japan say Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa will step down over
issues with his pay

Nissan's CEO said Monday he will step down next week, deepening the crisis at the Japanese car giant still reeling from the arrest and ouster of former chief Carlos Ghosn's over alleged financial misconduct.

It is yet another blow for the firm that has seen sales plunge and been forced to slash jobs since Ghosn's stunning arrest for allegedly hiding part of his salary from official documents to shareholders.

Hiroto Saikawa said he would leave the company on September 16, following the results of an investigation into excess pay he received after altering the terms of a bonus.

Saikawa is suspected of improperly adding 47 million yen ($440,000) to his compensation under a scheme in which directors can earn a bonus if their company's share price rises above a certain level in a set period.

Nissan officials were keen to stress that there was no illegality but that he should not have delegated the task to a junior executive.

"At the end of the day, the operation which should have been carried out by the president himself was... delegated to others, which is a violation of the rules," said Motoo Nagai, a board member.

Saikawa admitted handing the task to a company secretariat and said he was "not proud" of this but insisted it was not the same as the misconduct of which Ghosn is accused.

He was it was "totally different from the intentional wrongdoing that was uncovered" during the internal Nissan probe into Ghosn and his right-hand man, US executive Greg Kelly.

The controversial "share appreciation" scheme has now been scrapped, the Nissan board announced.

Current chief operating officer, Yasuhiro Yamauchi, will take over as acting CEO on September 16, when Saikawa officially leaves, and Nissan hopes to find a permanent replacement by the end of October.

Alleged overpayments

The carmaker is currently undergoing an overhaul intended to strengthen governance after the Ghosn scandal.

In June, Nissan shareholders voted in favour of various measures including the establishment of three new oversight committees responsible for the appointment of senior officials, pay issues and auditing.

They also approved the election of 11 directors as the firm restructures, among them two Renault executives as well as Saikawa.

The reforms were designed to put Nissan on a more stable footing after the arrest of Ghosn, who has been sacked from his leadership roles at the Japanese firm and others.

He is awaiting trial on charges of under-reporting millions of dollars in salary and of using company funds for personal expenses.

Ghosn has denied any wrongdoing and accuses Nissan executives opposed to his plans to further integrate the firm with France's Renault of plotting against him.

'Dark side'

Saikawa, a one-time Ghosn protege, turned sharply against his former mentor after his arrest, referring to the "dark side" of the tycoon's tenure and accusing him of accruing unchecked power that allowed his alleged wrongdoing to go undetected.

But the CEO himself came under pressure in the scandal's wake, facing calls to resign from shareholders who view him as too heavily associated with the Ghosn era.

And while he resisted calls to step down immediately, he has always said he planned to hand over the reins after Nissan is back on track.

The Ghosn scandal has proved disastrous for Nissan, which in July announced that net profit plunged nearly 95 percent in the April-June quarter, and confirmed it would cut 12,500 jobs worldwide.

The Japanese firm has also struggled to steady its relationship with Renault as part of a tripartite alliance with Mitsubishi Motors that Ghosn founded and once led.

Asked how he felt towards his once-mentor Ghosn and Kelly, Saikawa said he believed their actions had put the company in the difficult position in which it now finds itself -- with hardship for customers, staff and dealers.

"This is the biggest responsibility... and I think they should think about this, they should feel bad about this. But they haven't expressed any apology for creating this situation," said Saikawa.

"I want Mr Kelly and Mr Ghosn to feel bad about the situation they have created."

Bombardier sells regional jet division to Mitsubishi for $550 mn

Yahoo - AFP, June 25, 2019

Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier is selling its CRJ Series regional jet program
to Japan's Mitsubishi (AFP Photo/Eva HAMBACH)

Canadian manufacturer Bombardier announced Tuesday the sale of its CRJ Series regional jet program to Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for US$550 million, effectively exiting the commercial passenger aircraft sector.

The deal with Mitsubishi, which has been seeking to break into aviation, comes after Bombardier recently sold a majority stake in its new medium-range C Series jetliners to Airbus, which has been renamed A220, and its Q Series turboprop line to a Canadian investment fund.

The sale of the 75- to 100-seat CRJ line -- along with its service and support networks in Montreal, Quebec City and Toronto; Bridgeport, West Virginia; and Tucson, Arizona -- is expected to close by the end of 2020.

In a statement, Bombardier said Mitsubishi will also assume liabilities totalling $200 million, and take over all maintenance, support, refurbishment, marketing and sales activities for the aircrafts.

Mitsubishi president Seiji Izumisawa said the CRJ will compliment the development and production of its SpaceJet family of commercial jets as it pursues future growth in this sector.

"This transaction represents one of the most important steps in our strategic journey to build a strong, global aviation capability," he said.

Bombardier chief executive Alain Bellemare, meanwhile, said the transaction represents "the completion of Bombardier's aerospace transformation."

The Canadian company, he said, would now focus on its global rail business and its last remaining aircraft -- business jets.

Its CRJ production facility in Mirabel, Quebec will remain with Bombardier, and the Canadian company will continue to supply components and spare parts for the CRJ as well as assemble the current CRJ backlog on behalf of Mitsubishi until the sale is concluded in the second half of 2020, subject to regulatory approvals.

Maverick entrepreneur's space rocket fails at blast off

Yahoo – AFP, June 30, 2018

The launch was supposed to send the rocket carrying observational equipment 

to an altitude of over 100 kilometres (62 miles) (AFP Photo/JIJI PRESS)

Tokyo (AFP) - A rocket developed by a maverick Japanese entrepreneur and convicted fraudster exploded shortly after liftoff Saturday, in a major blow to his bid to send Japan's first privately backed rocket into space.

Interstellar Technologies, founded by popular internet service provider Livedoor's creator Takafumi Horie, launched the unmanned rocket, MOMO-2, at around 5:30 am (2030 GMT Friday) from a test site in Taiki, southern Hokkaido.

But television footage showed the 10-metre (33-foot) rocket crashing back down to the launch pad seconds after liftoff and bursting into flames.

No injuries were reported in the spectacular explosion.

The launch was supposed to send the rocket carrying observational equipment to an altitude of over 100 kilometres (62 miles).

The failure follows a previous setback in July last year, when engineers lost contact with a rocket about a minute after it launched.

Interstellar Technologies said it would continue its rocket development programme after analysing the latest failure.

The outlandish, Ferrari-driving Horie -- who helped drive Japan's shift to an information-based economy in the late 1990s and the early 2000s but later spent nearly two years in jail for accounting fraud -- founded Interstellar in 2013.

However, privately backed efforts to explore space from Japan have so far failed to compete with the government-run Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Modi, Abe get India's first bullet train going as ties deepen

Yahoo – AFP, Jalees ANDRABI, September 13, 2017

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan's Shinzo Abe shake hands in front
of a Shinkansen bullet train during a 2016 meeting in Kobe (AFP Photo/JIJI PRESS)

New Delhi (AFP) - As India's premier Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe prepare to break ground on the country's first bullet train project Thursday, experts say the collaboration could signal a massive leap for its overburdened and deadly railways.

India's colonial-era rail network carries some 22 million passengers daily, making it one of the busiest in the world. But it is also among the most dangerous.

A government report published in 2012 said almost 15,000 people were killed every year in rail accidents, describing the deaths as an annual "massacre" due mainly to poor safety standards.

Modi has pledged to invest billions of dollars to modernise the country's crumbling railway infrastructure, which is plagued by delays, and the bullet train was one of his key election promises ahead of a landslide victory in 2014.

As New Delhi and Tokyo seek to forge closer ties to combat China's growing regional influence, the project offers a diplomatic and economic boost.

The premiers will lay the foundation for the bullet train network in the western city of Ahmedabad -- connecting Modi's home state of Gujarat with India's financial capital Mumbai.

Japan is a pioneer in high-speed rail transport -- with its Shinkansen bullet train ranked among the fastest in the world.

With projected top speeds of up to 350 kilometres (217 miles) an hour -- more than double the maximum speed offered by the fastest trains operating in India -- it will reduce travel time between the two cities from eight hours to at most three-and-a-half hours.

The new train, which will have a capacity of 750 passengers, is also expected to be safer than the country's creaking rail network, the world's fourth largest by distance.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 

visit Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, on September 13, 2017 (AFP Photo/

PRAKASH SINGH)

'Balance China's hegemony'

Modi recently replaced his railway minister after a series of derailments, including one last month in which at least 23 people were killed in northern Uttar Pradesh state. Nearly 150 died in a similar accident in November.

The agreement for the 508-kilometre network was signed in 2016, with plans to make it operational by December 2023.

Nearly 85 percent of the total project cost of $19 billion will be provided by Tokyo in soft loans, with repayment over 50 years.

Abe's visit to Ahmedabad comes ahead of Modi's 67th birthday on Sunday and many have dubbed it as part of his practice of "birthday diplomacy".

The right-wing Hindu nationalist leader hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Gujarat on his birthday in 2014.

"India's relation with Japan is designed to balance China's hegemony," Rajrishi Singhal, a Mumbai-based independent policy consultant, told AFP.

India's crumbling rail infrastructure is in desperate need of modernisation, with 

a report in 2012 describing the 15,000 deaths on the network each year as a 

'massacre' (AFP Photo)

The two countries have close security ties and hold regular joint military exercises.

A proposed joint investment of billions of dollars in Africa is set to be the cornerstone of the relationship, Singhal said.

"India truly values the relationship with Japan and we look forward to further boosting our bilateral ties in a wide range of sectors," Modi tweeted Tuesday.

There are more than 1,500 Japanese companies in India, including auto major Suzuki, the largest car maker in the country.

The success of Suzuki and others transformed India's auto industry, which employs millions today.

Experts are pinning similar hopes on the bullet train project.

"Just like Suzuki changed India's car market and brought millions of jobs, the bullet train will change the entire industry," Singhal said.

Suzuki faces claims of false fuel economy tests

Japanese carmaker Suzuki is the latest automotive company to be caught in an improper fuel economy testing issue, following similar admissions by Mitsubishi last month.

Deutsche Welle, 18 May 2016

Suzuki admitted to "discrepancies" in its fuel economy and emissions testing, after media reports surfaced on Wednesday saying an internal audit uncovered irregularities in the company's methods.

"Some discrepancies were found in the automobile emission and fuel-efficiency testing process between the testing method required by the government and the one Suzuki employed," the company said in a statement.

Sixteen models and about two million cars are affected, but Suzuki said all the vehicles in question were only sold within Japan. The carmaker also denied actively rigging the results of testing.

"Any wrongdoing, such as manipulation of fuel efficiency data, were not found," Suzuki said. Company chairman Osamu Suzuki visited the transport ministry to discuss the issue.

The ministry urged the country’s carmakers to launch internal reviews, after rival Mitsubishi reported in April that it actively cheated on fuel economy tests.

Mitsubishi admitted that it had been using obsolete fuel economy tests since new regulations were introduced more than 25 years ago. It is also expected to submit a report to the transport authorities on Wednesday.

Suzuki shares dove 15 percent on the news, as investors sold off stock in the small carmaker, which sells about three million vehicles annually.

jd/uhe (dpa, AFP)

Nissan to be fined for 'emissions cheating' in South Korea

Yahoo – AFP, Jung Ha-Won, May 16, 2016

South Korea is fining Nissan for allegedly manipulating emissions data on a
popular diesel sports utility vehicle (AFP Photo/Toshifumi Kitamura)

Seoul (AFP) - South Korea said Monday it will fine Nissan for allegedly manipulating emissions data on a popular diesel sports utility vehicle, bringing the Japanese car giant into a widening global scandal that has already ensnared Volkswagen and Mitsubishi.

Seoul said it would order recalls of hundreds of Qashqai model SUVs after tests revealed an emission defeat system that made the vehicle appear to be less polluting than it really was.

The decision follows an investigation into 20 diesel-powered cars that began last December after German carmaker Volkswagen admitted having installed devices aimed at cheating emissions tests in 11 million diesel engines.

Nissan would be fined 330 million won ($280,000), the environment ministry said Monday.

"Our investigation... concluded that Nissan illegally manipulated emission data," it said in a statement.

Japanese transport ministry officials raid theTokyo headquarters of Mitsubishi after

the firm admitted manipulating fuel economy figures. Rough cut (no reporter narration)

Hong Dong-Kon, a ministry official handling transport-related regulations, added: "A group of auto industry experts we consulted with also agreed that this is a clear manipulation of emission data."

State tests showed the Qashqai switched off its emission reduction device when the car temperature reached 35 degrees Celsius to stop the vehicle from overheating, whereas other cars waited until the temperature reached 50 degrees.

The ministry also said that when the Qashqai's emissions reduction device stopped working, the level of emissions was about the same or higher than the Volkswagen cars equipped with emissions-cheating software systems.

Nissan will be given 10 days to present its opinions on the Qashqai issue before Seoul officially carries out punitive measures, the environment ministry said.

VW crisis

VW was plunged into its deepest-ever

 crisis last year when it emerged it had

 installed defeat devices into cars all over

the world (AFP Photo/Odd Andersen)

Nissan insisted it "does not manipulate data related to our vehicles" in a statement sent to AFP.

"Nissan has not and does not employ illegal defeat or cheat devices in any of the cars that we make."

The statement added: "Furthermore, following stringent testing and using similar standards to the Korean tests, EU authorities have concluded that Nissan vehicles they tested used no illegal defeat device.

"Although the conclusions reached by the Korean authorities are inconsistent with those of other regulators, Nissan will carefully assess and consider appropriate next steps.

The company said it was "committed to upholding the law" and was "continuing to work with the Korean authorities".

Unlike its rivals Volkswagen and Mitsubishi, Nissan -- Japan's number two automaker -- has so far avoided being embroiled in any emissions or fuel economy cheating scandals.

Mitsubishi last month admitted it had been falsifying fuel-economy tests for years, manipulating data to make cars seem more efficient than they were in reality.

The scandal includes mini-cars produced by Mitsubishi for Nissan as part of a joint venture, but Nissan is said to have had no part in the cheating.

Volkswagen emissions scandal (AFP Photo)

Nissan threw a surprise lifeline to Mitsubishi last week by offering to buy 34 percent of its shares, but its top executive warned Friday that he would kill the $2.2 billion offer if the Mitsubishi scandal spreads beyond Japan.

VW was plunged into its deepest-ever crisis last September when it emerged it had installed defeat devices into cars all over the world.

The automaker has acknowledged 11 million vehicles are fitted with software that reduces pollution levels only when the car is being tested for emissions.

In late April the company said it was setting aside 16.2 billion euros ($18.2 billion) in provisions to cover the anticipated costs of the scandal.

Last November Seoul ordered Volkswagen Korea to recall more than 125,000 diesel-powered cars sold in the Korean market and fined the firm 14.1 billion won.

More carmakers caught in headlights of VW engine-rigging scandal

Yahoo – AFP,  April 22, 2016

Volkswagen has admitted it installed illegal software into 11 million 2.0 liter
and 3.0 liter diesel engines worldwide (AFP Photo/Josh Edelson)

Berlin (AFP) - Major names in the auto industry found themselves caught in headlights of a global engine-rigging scandal on Friday as Volkswagen booked one of the biggest losses in its history over the scam.

As VW announced it was setting aside 16.2 billion euros to cover the costs of the scandal, the German government revealed that an emissions probe found that 16 major car brands -- ranging from France's Renault to Italy's Fiat to Japan's Nissan -- showed up irregularities.

German carmakers would have to recall Audi, Mercedes, Opel, Porsche and Volkswagen vehicles in Europe after failing the test, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said, adding that Berlin was unable to require foreign car makers that did not fall under its jurisdiction to take similar action.

The latest revelations amounted to another aftershock rocking the automobile sector, already vulnerable after VW's scandal erupted in September with the admission that the group had installed so-called "defeat devices" aimed at cheating emissions tests into 11 million diesel engines worldwide.

Volkswagen has admitted it installed illegal software into 11 million 2.0 liter 

and 3.0 liter diesel engines worldwide (AFP Photo/John SAEKI, Adrian Leung)

This week, the pain spread to Asia, where Japan's Mitsubishi Motors confessed that it cheated on fuel-efficiency tests.

And late Thursday, top of the range German maker Daimler announced that it was launching an internal probe into its emission certification process at the request of the US authorities.

France's biggest automaker PSA Group was also not spared, as the country's anti-fraud squad raided its premises as part of a government probe into emissions after "anomalies" were found in three vehicles.

16 car brands hit

The latest trouble to hit the sector arises from a probe carried out into the emission values of all vehicle models on German roads.

Of 53 models tested, 22 models were found to emit high nitrogen oxide values and possess a technical device that raised questions.

The models in particular have devices that, under specific temperatures, switch off systems that are meant to remove harmful nitrogen oxide from cars' exhaust.

Daimler -- owner of Mercedes-Benz -- announced that it was launching an internal

 investigation, "into its certification process related to exhaust emissions in the United 

States upon the request of the US Department of Justice (DOJ)" (AFP Photo/

\Paul J. Richards)

The systems for cleaning pollutants are deactivated at low temperatures to protect motors or prevent a possible accident, as is allowed by EU regulations, but it was not clear whether some makers used this provision to bend the rules.

Dobrindt said that besides German brands Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes, Opel and Porsche, as well as France's Renault, "other manufacturers (affected) are ... Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Dacia, Fiat, Hyundai, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Nissan and Suzuki."

Meanwhile, independent of the German probe, Daimler -- owner of Mercedes-Benz, announced that it was launching an internal investigation, "into its certification process related to exhaust emissions in the United States upon the request of the US Department of Justice (DOJ)."

Daimler pledged to "investigate possible indications of irregularities and of course take all necessary actions," it said as its shares went into a tailspin on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

In Asia, Japan's transport ministry sent officials to raid a Mitsubishi Motors research and development centre for a second day on Friday.

Mitsubishi said it would halt production and sales of the affected models -- mini-cars sold in Japan including many made for rival Nissan -- and warned that the number would likely rise, as it looks to vehicles sold overseas.

Japanese automaker Mitsubishi has admitted it manipulated pollution data

in more than 600,000 vehicles (AFP Photo/Toshifumi Kitamura)

VW skids deep into red

For its part, VW said it sank into a loss of 1.582 billion euros in 2015, due mainly to the 16.2 billion euros in provisions it has been forced to set aside to cover regulatory fines, lawsuits and recall costs of the scandal.

"The emissions issue significantly impacted Volkswagen's finances," said Matthias Mueller, group chief executive.

VW had only just reached an agreement with US regulators -- who had first broken the scandal -- to offer US owners of some 480,000 illegally polluting diesel cars options of "substantial compensation" and to fix the cars, or to buy them back.

The German giant had faced a court deadline for solutions to the emissions scandal and San Francisco district court judge Charles Breyer said the agreement in principle would give owners of its 2.0 liter diesel cars choices for compensation which also included cancelling the contracts for those under lease.

The offer, which will likely cost Volkswagen billions of dollars, also included the creation of a fund for environmental protection, the company said at a court hearing.

Details of the proposal between Volkswagen USA, the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency were not immediately released.

Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt gives a statment to the media in Berlin, 

Germany, April 22, 2016. German car manufacturers will recall 630,000 Porsche, 

Volkswagen Opel, Audi and Mercedes vehicles to fix diesel emissions management

 software, a German government official said on Friday, widening a clampdown on 

pollution in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal. Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch

But it appeared to be enough to allow Volkswagen to avert a huge trial over how it would deal with the scandal that has already deeply damaged the company.

The so-called "dieselgate" scandal led to the departure of VW's chief executive Martin Winterkorn.

The German giant, which has abandoned its ambitions of becoming the world's biggest carmaker ahead of Toyota in the wake of the scandal, has already started recalling some eight million vehicles affected in Europe.

The scandal has greatly tarnished the reputation of a company once regarded as a paragon of German industry.

The recall operation in Europe is expected to take all year. And while VW is footing the bill, it is not expecting to have to pay European owners compensation, much to the chagrin of consumer protection groups.

Related Articles:

German automakers to recall 630,000 cars after emissions probe

Mitsubishi Motors to pay owners of fuel-cheating cars: report - New

Automaker Mitsubishi admits manipulating fuel-efficiency tests

Automaker Mitsubishi admits manipulating fuel-efficiency tests

Yahoo – AFP, Natsuko Fukue, 20 April 2016

Japanese automaker Mitsubishi on Wednesday admitted it manipulated fuel-efficiency tests in more than 600,000 vehicles, after reports of misconduct sent its Tokyo-listed shares crashing earlier in the day.

The embarrassing revelation comes in the wake of a massive pollution-cheating scandal at Volkswagen (LSE: 0P6N.L - news) that erupted in September and which the German giant is still struggling to overcome.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) also marks the latest blow for Japan Inc after auto parts giant Takata (Frankfurt: 7TK.F - news) was hammered by an exploding air bag defect blamed for at least 11 deaths, and as Toshiba (Swiss: TOSH.SW - news) tries to recover from a huge accounting scandal.

Mitsubishi said it would halt production and sales of the affected vehicle models -- mini-cars sold in Japan -- and warned that the number of affected vehicles would likely rise.

The maker of the Outlander sport utility vehicle also said it would launch a probe into cars it sold overseas.

"We found that with respect to the fuel consumption testing data... (the company) conducted testing improperly to present better fuel consumption rates than the actual rates," Mitsubishi president Tetsuro Aikawa told a Tokyo news briefing.

He added that the testing method was "different" from one required by Japanese law, and warned that the automaker's bottom line would take a hit.

"This is not a simple problem and we need time (to assess the impact)," Mitsubishi's top executive said.

"But I'm sure there will be an impact. The damage will be big."

The problem affected about 625,000 vehicles, including mini-cars "eK Wagon" and "eK Space", and the "Dayz" and "Dayz Roox", which Mitsubishi produces for rival Nissan.

The rigged figures were discovered after Nissan found inconsistencies in fuel-economy data and reported it.

"In response to Nissan's request, Mitsubishi admitted that data had been intentionally manipulated in its fuel economy testing process for certification," Nissan said.

Independent investigation

Japan's number-two carmaker ordered a halt to sales of the vehicles that Mitsubishi produced and tested.

A company spokesman declined to comment on the future of Nissan's business relationship with its smaller rival.

"Our focus is on our customers," he said.

Mini-cars, or kei-cars, are small vehicles with 660cc gasoline engines that are hugely popular in the Japanese market, but have found little success abroad.

Mitsubishi sold more than a million vehicles at home and overseas in its latest fiscal year.

"Taking into account the seriousness of these issues, we will also conduct an investigation into products manufactured for overseas markets," the carmaker said in a statement.

"In order to conduct an investigation into these issues objectively and thoroughly, we plan to set up a committee consisting of only external experts. We will publish the results of our investigation as soon as it is complete."

Earlier Wednesday, Mitsubishi shares plunged 15.16 percent to 733 yen ($6.73) after local media reported the faulty emissions tests.

"This may be different from Volkswagen's issue, but the market has become very sensitive to such kind of news," Seiji Sugiura, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center, told Bloomberg News.

"It may have a similar impact in terms of sales and the company's reputation."

The fall in Mitsubishi's stock was its biggest one-day plunge since 2004.

At that time, Mitsubishi was struggling to launch a turnaround as it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, hit by a lack of cash and a series of huge recalls linked to serious defects.

"It's not the first time for Mitsubishi to have this kind of issue, and this definitely won?t help them rebuild their reputation," Sugiura said.

Volkswagen has been hammered by a global scandal that erupted when it emerged that it had installed emissions-cheating software in 11 million diesel engines worldwide.

The costs of the scandal are still incalculable but are expected to run into several billions of dollars as a result of fines and lawsuits.

South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia in 2014 agreed to pay $100 million to settle a US government investigation into exaggerated fuel efficiency on 2012 and 2013 car models sold in the United States.

Related Article:

Mitsubishi Motors to pay owners of fuel-cheating cars: report

Japan's first passenger jet makes maiden test flight

Yahoo – AFP, Quentin Tyberghien, November 11, 2015

Japan's Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) takes off on its maiden test flight

from Nagoya airport, on November 11, 2015 (AFP Photo/Kazuhiro Nogi)

Japan's first passenger jet made its maiden test flight Wednesday, a landmark in a decade-long programme to launch the plane aimed at competing with Brazilian and Canadian rivals in the global market for smaller aircraft.

About half a century after the last Japanese-made commercial plane took to the skies, the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), painted with dark blue, red and beige stripes, took off from Nagoya airport under clear skies for a 90-minute trip.

After being barred from developing aircraft following World War II, Japan -- and its MRJ jet -- is competing with other regional passenger jet manufacturers such as Brazil's Embraer and Canada's Bombardier.

Hiromichi Morimoto, president of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp -- a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries -- voiced his delight and relief at the successful flight.

"We were able to see the beautiful fuselage of the MRJ taking off into the sunny autumn sky," he told a press conference.

"The fact that I was able to see that with you, as someone who was involved in its development, there is no greater joy."

Its pilot also praised the jet.

"The operation performance of the MRJ was far better than expected," Yoshiyuki Yasumura said, according to a Mitsubishi Aircraft release.

"We had a significantly comfortable flight."

The two-engine MRJ marks a new chapter for Japan's aviation sector, which last built a commercial airliner in 1962 -- the YS-11 turboprop that was discontinued about a decade later.

The MRJ is approximately 35-metres (115-feet) long, has a pointed nose and will seat about 80 passengers.

Mitsubishi Aircraft boasts that the fuel-efficient MRJ will offer more passenger comfort with lower operating costs, eyeing the booming regional jet sector.

China is also developing a similar-sized homegrown regional passenger jet, the ARJ21. It had its first test flight in 2008 and the initial commercial delivery is reportedly expected by the end of the year.

'Japan's pride!'

Mitsubishi Heavy would not disclose how much of the aircraft consists of Japanese components, but it is powered by two next-generation engines developed by Pratt & Whitney of the United States.

The company said the US parts are key and have helped it slash operating costs by about 20 percent.

The maiden flight by the Japanese passenger jet stirred excitement at home.

Japan's Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) will seat about 80 passengers and will 

compete with other jet manufacturers such as Brazil's Embraer and Canada's 

Bombardier (AFP Photo/Kazuhiro Nogi)

"We very much welcome the success of the first flight as it is a new beginning for the Japanese aircraft industry," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

"We hope that development for delivery of the first plane will go steadily and both public and private sectors will continue to work towards the success of this project."

On the live streaming website for the flight, one user tweeted: "This is a great achievement."

Another excited user simply wrote: "Japan's pride!"

Firms in Japan were banned from developing aircraft by US occupiers following the country's defeat in World War II.

Mitsubishi Heavy, a military contractor, built Japan's legendary "Zero" World War II fighter jet.

The country slowly started rebuilding its aviation industry in the 1950s, starting with carrying out repair work for the US military. It went on to expand its scope to start licensed production of US-developed aircraft for Japan's military.

Japanese firms have also long supplied parts to plane manufacturer Boeing.

Mitsubishi Heavy unveiled the jet in October last year and has received more than 400 orders.

It plans to make the first delivery to Japan's All Nippon Airways in 2017.

Mitsubishi's short-to-medium-haul regional jet was backed by the Japanese government and a consortium of major firms including Toyota.

Automaker Honda is also developing a small private jet in the United States, which was first unveiled in Japan earlier this year.

For China, its new passenger plane C919 represents at least seven years of

efforts in a state-mandated drive to reduce dependence on European consortium

Airbus and Boeing of the US (AFP Photo)

Related Article:

Chinacompletes production of own passenger plane