Japan's transport ministry reportedly told four automakers that sell diesel vehicles in the domestic market – Toyota, Nissan, Mazda and Mitsubishi – along with importers of European brands to report by Friday on whether their vehicles are fitted with the software that can 'game' pollution tests.
The ministry wants some of the country's biggest automakers to report on whether their diesel vehicles meet Japanese standards, in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal, a Channel News Asia/AFP report said. Officials would then determine whether or not to make the current diesel car inspection process more stringent and change testing, transport minister Akihiro Ohta said.
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"We are collecting information to understand what happened in its entirety," a transport ministry official told AFP. "By studying our inspection system, we're going to see if the current regime is sufficient."
Japan's order followed similar moves in other countries including South Korea, Britain and France, the report noted.
The global scandal has not directly affected Japan because VW did not export the affected vehicles to the Asian nation. But some 230 affected Volkswagen vehicles are known to have been imported privately into Japan.
