Japan's Mitsubishi Motors resumes sales of scandal-hit minicars

Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. resumed sales of the scandal-hit Mitsubishi-produced minicar models on Friday after Mitsubishi Motors submitted revised fuel economy data for the vehicles to the government.

Mitsubishi Motors started receiving orders for the eK Wagon and eK Space models Friday, while Nissan resumed selling of the Mitsubishi-produced Dayz and Dayz Roox, the sales of which had been halted since April 20.

Mitsubishi Motors admitted in April that it had manipulated data in calculating fuel economy of some of its minicar models. The scandal substantially damaged the reputation of the automaker as well as the sales of its minicars.

The automobile manufacturer submitted revised fuel economy data to the transport ministry on June 21, which are some 16 percent worse than the data previously listed in the catalog.

Mitsubishi Motors Chairman Osamu Masuko also announced Friday at a meeting that the company would resume from Monday the production of minicars in its plant in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture which has been halted for over two months.

On an earlier occasion, Masuko said that the company was prepared for offering price cuts to boost selling.

Japan's sales of minicars in June slid 18.4 percent from a year earlier amid the Mitsubish fuel economy scandal, with sales of Mitsubishi minicars down by 75.7 percent year-on-year and Nissan minicars down by 77.4 percent, statistics from the Japan Light Motor Vehicle and Motorcycle Association showed. Endit