Scandal-ridden automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Monday that an investigation into a coverup of auto defects won't be completed before the end of the year as initially planned.
Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors has announced more than 40 recalls in the last several months after acknowledging a systematic coverup extending back at least 25 years. The recalls continued even after the manufacturer acknowledged the coverup in 2000 and promised to come clean.
A team of lawyers from outside the company began an investigation in July to get to the bottom of the coverup and take disciplinary measures.
But the probe is taking longer than expected and won't be finished by the initial deadline of the end of the year, and will probably take until the end of March, Mitsubishi Motors said in a statement.
The investigation is looking into why defects related to truck wheels and clutch systems were left out of the recall campaign that started in 2000, it said.