Nissan admits to fiddling emission figures – and its shares have fallen after launching a full investigation

NISSAN has admitted to falsifying exhaust emission figures at its domestic factory in Japan.

Fuel economy tests also “deviated from the prescribed testing environment”, according to a statement released by the carmaker.

A full investigation has been launched after the results of the voluntary checks were reported to the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Misconduct included the “creation of inspection reports based on altered measurement values”.

Nissan shares have plummeted by 4.56 per cent so far this afternoon.

The manufacturer aligned with French outfit Renault in 1999 and then with fellow Japanese motor company Mitsubishi in 2016.

Nissan’s GT-R performance car is the only model that is yet to be re-verified.

Sample tests carried out on all Nissan models also guarantees that there are no errors in fuel economy figures.

The news follows on from last year’s recall of 1.2 million Nissan cars in Japan, again due to a failure in testing procedures.

Ongoing checks uncovered this new scandal, however, no overseas models have been affected.

The company statement read: “Nissan understands and regrets the concern and inconvenience caused to stakeholders as a result of its kanken [final car inspection process] issues last year.

“Proactive initiatives to prevent recurrence of such issues have led to the discovery of this misconduct, for which the company is regretful.

“A full and comprehensive investigation of the facts, including the causes and background of the misconduct, is underway.”