Suzuki's testing issue does not apply to products sold abroad: Maruti Suzuki

Automobile major Maruti Suzuki on Wednesday said that its parent firm Suzuki Motor Corporation's (SMC) fuel and emissions testing issue does not apply to products sold outside Japan.

"The Suzuki report clearly mentions that " The issues do not apply to products sold under Suzuki badge outside Japan," a company spokesperson said.

According to the spokesperson, the system of conducting vehicle mileage tests in India is distinct from the one used in Japan.

In India, all vehicles are tested for road load and emissions by government approved agencies like ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India), ICAT (International Centre for Automotive Technology) and VRDE (Vehicle Research & Development Establishment).

"As part of the emissions test, these agencies report fuel efficiency of vehicles as well. Basis these reports, Maruti Suzuki voluntarily declares fuel efficiency," the spokesperson said.

Earlier, in Tokyo, SMC had said that it has found "discrepancies" in its fuel and emissions testing but denied cheating, a media report said.

The company said its testing method for 16 models was not in line with official regulations but insisted that new tests showed no need to amend the data, a BBC report said.

"Any wrongdoing, such as manipulation of fuel efficiency data, were not found," Suzuki said.

This comes after Mitsubishi's admission last month that it had falsified fuel economy data for its vehicles.

Japan's transport ministry had ordered all of the country's car makers to present their compliance with government testing methods.

Earlier in the day, media reports suggested that Suzuki would reveal fuel testing problems and the company's shares fell nine percent in response to that.

Suzuki, Japan's fourth-largest car company, said in a statement that problems with the testing went back to 2010, and about 2.1 million vehicles were affected.

No Suzuki-branded cars sold overseas were affected, according to the firm.

--IANS

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