In Cars, International News / By Anthony Lim / 29 September 2015 4:28 pm / 9 comments

More reaction to ‘Dieselgate‘, this time from the East – Japan’s transport ministry has begun a probe on diesel vehicles in Japan, the objective being to establish if these cars meet the country’s emission norms, Bloomberg reports.

The country’s Transport Minister Akihiro Ohta told reporters in Tokyo that the ministry has requested automakers – including Toyota, Mazda and Volkswagen – to submit reports on their findings by the end of this week. He added that the government is considering changing the method it uses to test diesel engines, but did not go into detail about the subject.

Japan joins a growing list of countries to begin investigating diesel emission compliance following the crisis that has beset Volkswagen. The German automaker was caught out for having installed illegal “defeat devices” in its diesel-powered cars to help it comply with emissions tests in the US. Countries investigating compliance issues include South Korea, France and the UK.

The fallout has since cost CEO Martin Winterkorn his job and seen the Group’s market value erode by €27 billion euros (RM135 billion), but it doesn’t look like stopping anytime soon.

The report adds that while VW doesn’t sell diesel cars through official channels in Japan, Ohta said that individual buyers have imported around 230 VW and Audi vehicles since 2008. He said the ministry is in the midst of ascertaining if these cars need to be recalled and fixed.