Maruti's India ride 'safe' as Suzuki skids in Japan

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) said on Wednesday that the issue of using improper fuel economy and emission tests faced by its parent company Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC) will not have any implications in India.

"The system of conducting vehicle mileage tests in India is distinct from the one in Japan. In India, all vehicles are tested for road load and emissions by government approved agencies like ARAI, ICAT and VRDE," a Maruti Suzuki India spokesperson said in a statement here. As part of the emission test, these agencies report fuel efficiency of vehicles as well. Based on these reports, Maruti Suzuki voluntarily declares fuel efficiency of its vehicles, the spokesperson added.

Earlier during the day, SMC admitted in Tokyo to using wrong methods to test fuel economy of its cars in Japan widening a testing scandal that has already rocked smaller rival Mitsubishi Motors Corp. SMC chief executive officer Osamu Suzuki told reporters, "The company apologises for the fact that we did not follow rules set by the country," adding 2.1 million vehicles were affected.

SMC said that it would continue selling its mini cars. The correct readings, it said, are not significantly different to those it submitted.

Japanese authorities have asked for further details from SMC before May 31 calling its use of non-compliant tests "outrageous". Japan's transport ministry ordered widespread checks to industry methods after Mitsubishi Motors admitted last month that it manipulated fuel economy data for, at least, four mini vehicle models overstating their efficiency.

Mitsubishi Motors president Tetsuro Aikawa said on Wednesday that he would step down over that scandal becoming the first senior departure since it broke battering the company's reputation and wiping billions off its market value. Worries over similar damage for Suzuki sent shares in Japan's fourthlargest carmaker down as much as 15 per cent during the day.