Suzuki admits fuel testing issues but denies cheating

Japanese car maker Suzuki says it has found "discrepancies" in its fuel and emissions testing but denies cheating.

The company said its testing method for 16 models was not in line with official regulations, but it insisted that new tests showed no need to amend the data.

"Any wrongdoing, such as manipulation of fuel efficiency data, were not found," Suzuki said.

It comes after Mitsubishi's admission last month that it had falsified fuel economy data for its vehicles.

Mitsubishi has said its president, Tetsuro Aikawa, will step down in the wake of the test-fixing scandal.

Japan's transport ministry had ordered all of the country's car makers to present their compliance with government testing methods.

Earlier in the day, media reports had suggested that Suzuki would reveal fuel testing problems and the company's shares fell 9% in response to that.

Suzuki, Japan's fourth-largest car company, said in a statement that problems with the testing went back to 2010, and about 2.1 million vehicles were affected.

No Suzuki-branded cars sold overseas were affected, according to the firm.

Volkswagen has admitted to cheating emissions tests in the US. Authorities found the German car maker was installing a cheating software in its diesel vehicles that could detect when the cars were being tested and would change emission levels accordingly to improve the results.

Mitsubishi Motors has admitted it had falsified fuel economy data for the past 25 years. Breaking Japanese test rules meant the car maker was able to advertise its vehicles as being more fuel efficient than they actually were.

Nissan has been accused of having some of its UK-built Qashqais fitted with so-called emissions defeat devices. The company has denied the allegations.