Mazda says its testing confirms no falsification of test data

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(August 10, 2018) Mazda and Suzuki improperly tested vehicles for fuel economy and emissions, the Japanese government said on Thursday, in the latest cases of data falsifications by the nation's manufacturers involving vehicles for the Japanese market. The government had ordered the automakers to make checks after revelations of improper testing at Subaru and Nissan last year.

Suzuki and Mazda cleared vehicles for emissions or fuel efficiency even in cases where they were tested under invalid conditions, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry looked at tests done for different periods at the two automakers.

Mazda submitted a report to Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) on the results of an investigation into its sample testing of fuel economy and emissions during final vehicle inspections, and said fuel economy and emission testing confirmed no improper alteration or falsification of test data by Mazda.

Mazda's investigation covered two testing modes and the key findings of the report are:

    • No improper alteration or falsification of test data in either mode.

    • Test data containing speed trace errors was found in 72 cases out of 1,472 vehicles tested under the JC08 mode. The company has identified two reasons for these errors. Firstly, the system was not set up to automatically invalidate results when a speed trace error occurred. Secondly, test procedures left the determination of speed trace errors up to each individual inspector.

    • All test data has been re-examined and the results show there was no effect on specification fuel economy and emission figures. No such cases were found in WLTC mode testing.

This incident concerns only vehicles sold in Japan, and export vehicles are not applicable for this incident. Export vehicles are tested in accordance with the regulations of the market to which they are exported.

Mazda has decided to take the following steps to prevent a reoccurrence:

    • The system will be updated to automatically treat test results as invalid in the event of a speed trace error.

    • Mazda has increased the number of employees who check inspection data, including speed trace errors.

Mazda said it accepts that errors were made on a small number of tests and the situation was identified quickly and steps have been put in place to avoid it happening in the future.