Mitsubishi extends recall of faulty cars as scandal widens

Mitsubishi Motor Corp. President Katsuhiko Kawasoe sweats during a Tuesday press conference at the Transport Ministry.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Tuesday it will recall another 88,000 vehicles following a previous recall announcement in July, admitting that the firm had been systematically hiding user complaint documents from authorities for at least 23 years.

In some cases, MMC secretly fixed defective cars to avoid a recall. The start of such practices could date back to 1969, when the recall system was established in Japan, ministry officials said.

"This is very regrettable. From the viewpoint of user safety, this kind of thing should never happen," said a sour-faced Transport Minister Hajime Morita, who met MMC President Katsuhiko Kawasoe when he went to the ministry Tuesday to apologize for the debacle.