Mitsubishi Motors, executives indicted

Tokyo prosecutors are adding to Mitsubishi's long-running defect scandal

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japanese prosecutors have indicted Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and four executives for covering up product defects.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office filed the indictments Wednesday, alleging violations of Japanese motor-vehicle law.

A spokesman for the company said it had not yet decided how it would respond.

Three of the four executives now work for subsidiaries of Mitsubishi Motors. One still works for the parent, which is 37 percent owned by Germany-based DaimlerChrysler.

Mitsubishi Motors last year admitted that for decades it covered up product defects that it should have reported to Japan's Transport Ministry.

The scandal has undermined confidence in the brand and led to a slump in sales. The company has already undertaken costly recalls involving 2.5 million cars as a result.

Attempting to regain lost confidence

Mitsubishi Motors blamed the drop in business and the expense of the recall when it posted a record $2.2 billion (270 billion yen) loss for 2000.

The company prepared a statement on the indictments.

"We take the decision of the Tokyo public prosecutors office against the company most seriously," it read. "With deep reflection, every one of us has been striving to achieve total compliance and quality improvement so that we may regain lost customer confidence and credibility by the customers as soon as possible."

In January, DaimlerChrysler sent executive Rolf Ekrodt to take the role of chief operating officer at Mitsubishi Motors. He is trying to turn the company around, as Renault's Carlos Ghosn has at Nissan.

Mitsubishi Motors is eliminating 9,500 jobs, or 14 percent of its work force, and cutting production. It hopes to break even this fiscal year.

On Tuesday, it reported that sales in Japan fell 13.5 percent for March, though it has seen stronger sales outside Japan.

Mitsubishi cuts 9,500 jobs

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