Japan's crisis-hit Mitsubishi Motors announces another recall

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's scandal-tainted carmaker Mitsubishi Motors announced yet another recall of about 347,000 passenger cars globally as its share price dropped 6.54 percent on the Tokyo stock market.


Mitsubishi Motors Co. Ltd. informed the transport ministry that it would recall 116,352 vehicles in Japan, including its popular Pajero sports utility vehicle, to change defective parts in the rear-wheel shaft, bumpers and signal indicators.


The recall covers 10 models made between October 1998 and February 2004 for the Japanese market. An additional 231,000 vehicles -- the Pajero and the Carisma sedan -- would also be subject to a recall overseas, depending on local regulations.


"This is an ordinary recall so we have no plans to issue an apology," a Mitsubishi spokesman said.


The announcement came only a day after the company announced it had failed to declare a full recall and inform authorities about faults on 163,707 passenger cars in the 1990s, adding to a series of its cover-up scandals.


Shares in Japan's fourth-largest carmaker fell 14 yen to 200 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for the third consecutive decline while the benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 1.91 percent.

Mitsubishi Motors said late Wednesday the cover-up was revealed after an internal inquiry launched as part of its effort to revamp the firm, which has suffered a slump in sales and failed to win additional financial support from US-German auto giant DaimlerChrysler, its major shareholder.


Mitsubishi Motors has already been blighted by a series of other recalls for cars and trucks made by the group's companies.


In late May, Mitsubishi Fuso and Bus also announced a recall of nearly 170,000 vehicles to fix a serious defect found in a clutch housing on heavy-duty trucks.


In 2000, Mitsubishi Motors was mired in a scandal after confessing it had failed to inform the authorities about at least 64,000 customer complaints over faulty vehicles since 1977, opting to repair the vehicles instead of issuing costly model-wide recalls.


"Mitsubishi Motors has lost the trust of both customers and investors by committing wrongdoing any carmaker should not make," said Kenichi Azuma, equities analyst at Cosmo Securities.


"A lot of investors consider that it is extremely difficult for Mitsubishi Motors to survive the current difficulties," he said.


Sales of Mitsubishi vehicles in May plunged 56.3 percent to 4,213, apparently hit by the cover-up scandals. The fall is much steeper than the 10.6 percent year-on-year drop in overall new vehicle sales in Japan.


The cash-strapped Mitsubishi Motors announced last month a survival plan to raise about 450 billion yen (4.1 billion dollars) from its group firms and other investors, and to cut its global workforce and output.