Mitsubishi Motors president to resign over mileage scandal

TOKYO (AP) — Mitsubishi Motors Corp. President Tetsuro Aikawa said Wednesday that he will step down to take responsibility for the mileage cheating scandal unfolding at the Japanese automaker.

Mitsubishi reiterated as part of its latest findings that top management had not ordered the mileage scam, but employees had been under tremendous pressure to get better mileage.

Aikawa appeared with Mitsubishi Chairman Osamu Masuko, who helped engineer a deal with Japanese rival Nissan Motor Co., to take the top stake in Mitsubishi for 237 billion yen ($2.2 billion).

Just a couple of hours before Aikawa's news conference, Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp. apologized Wednesday for improper road tests, but denied reports it illegally falsified mileage numbers.