Dominoes continue to topple in the auto industry emissions mess
When large crises break in one organization within an industry, it often follows that similar issues will be found within some number of their peers. Looking at recent events, the auto industry certainly seems to be following that pattern. First we had Volkswagen, whose scandal of course continues to harm the financial performance and reputation of that brand. Then, in April, Mitsubishi Motors admitted to falsifying fuel economy tests for four models of car sold exclusively in Japan. Since then the company has admitted to toying with data for at least two more models sold in that same area, revealed that it’s been noncompliant with Japanese testing standards since 1991, and reported a loss of $174 million related to the issues. Quite the month.
Global impact
We live in a global economy and, though Mitsubishi claims the issues are restricted to Japan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has delivered orders that the automaker conduct additional tests on vehicles sold stateside and share those results. If we see more problems there, Mitsubishi is in for a bumpy ride.
Honest mistakes?
Since 2014 there have been issues with fuel efficiency numbers from Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, and now Mitsubishi. While the industry would love consumers to believe that these were honest mistakes, at some point a pattern becomes impossible to ignore.
The BCM Blogging Team
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com