Japanese officials raid Suzuki offices

Japanese carmaker Suzuki had its offices raided by the country’s transport ministry on Friday, after the company became the latest manufacturer to admit to improper fuel testing of its vehicles.

The company’s officers in Hamamatsu, 160 miles southwest of Tokyo, were visited by suited officials who said they were looking for any documents relating to the testing.

“We are raiding Suzuki’s headquarters to confirm the information that the company supplied,” a ministry official told Agence France-Presse.

It came weeks after officials also raided the offices of rival Mitsubishi Motors, after it too admitted to using improper fuel testing methods.

Since revealing the claims, Suzuki has maintained that it never meant to deceive motorists, but instead linked the issue to the culling of testing resources after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

“The increased workload of developing new models and engines [after Lehman’s collapse triggered the global financial crisis] led Suzuki to be unable to allocate sufficient manpower for the test,” the company said on Tuesday.

Suzuki has confirmed that 26 of its models are involved, with more than two million cars - all sold domestically in Japan - affected.