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A decade ago, Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. survived a defect cover-up scandal through a bail-out by other Mitsubishi Group companies. Now, facing uncertainty and potential liabilities from a new scandal, it may be on its own.
Multiple senior officials at Mitsubishi companies said it would be “difficult” for them to help the car maker as they face their own financial squeezes, as well as calls to put shareholder returns above ties with the former Mitsubishi business empire, or “zaibatsu,” which was split up into independent companies after World War II.
A task force at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, the banking arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group — which persuaded other group firms to rescue Mitsubishi Motors in 2004 — has reconvened in recent days to weigh the possible fallout of the automaker’s fuel economy cheating scandal, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
The person said other Mitsubishi Group firms seemed reluctant to help, but stressed that Mitsubishi Motors has made no approach for assistance as it doesn’t yet know the extent of potential compensation costs and losses in sales and production.
“At the moment, our priority is to cooperate with and disclose the results of ongoing investigations, and we’re not in a position to comment on assistance,” a spokeswoman for Mitsubishi Motors told Reuters.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corp., which hold stakes in the car maker and have sales partnerships with it, would want to avoid its collapse, but have shown little interest in helping, the person said.
“If other automakers could absorb it or merge with it, that would be better,” said the person, who didn’t want to be named as he is not authorized to speak with the media.
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp. also hold smaller shares in Japan’s sixth-largest automaker.
“The investigation into Mitsubishi Motors over its falsified fuel economy data is ongoing, so at this point we cannot decide on whether to offer assistance,” said Shunichi Miyanaga, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy, a builder of military aircraft, rail infrastructure and luxury cruise ships. It is the biggest shareholder in Mitsubishi Motors with a 12.6 percent stake, and Miyanaga sits on the automaker’s board.
Mitsubishi Motors may face a bill of as much as ¥104 billion ($935.2 million), according to Nomura analyst Masataka Kunugimoto, to compensate drivers, pay back government tax rebates and make other payments — assuming a cost of ¥68,000-¥166,000 ($611-$1,493) per car, times the 625,000 cars affected.
Goldman Sachs estimates a potential cost of up to ¥200,000 per car.
(REUTERS)
