The share price of Japanese car manufacturer, Mitsubishi Motors, has plunged as the company admitted that incorrect emissions data had been submitted to its government since 1991. Mitsubishi has apologised to shareholders, customers and stakeholders for the deception.

The company has appointed a special investigation committee made up of external lawyers under the chairmanship of Keiichi Watanbe, whose was formerly the superintending prosecutor at the Tokyo High Prosecutors Office. The committee will investigate how the company completed testing on its cars using a method that did not comply with Japanese law and then submitted fuel consumption testing data which presented better fuel consumption rates than was actually the case to Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism.

Currently the the falsifying of data appears to be limited to cars in Japan but the committee will also consider if there has been improper conduct elsewhere and make recommendations to ensure that this can not happen again.

Mitsubishi's disclosure comes in the wake of the scandal at German carmaker, Volkswagan, which last year admitted to falsifying emissions tests on its diesel cars worldwide. In an answer to a written question on the potential implications in the UK from Birmingham Northfield MP Richard Burden, the government stated that, "The Vehicle Certification Agency publishes data on new and used passenger cars and vans and is liaising urgently with Mitsubishi Motors to ensure that information provided in the UK is accurate."