Suzuki Motor Corp. has received an order from Dutch automobile regulators to report on alleged diesel emissions falsifications regarding its sport utility vehicles.
The regulators suspect the automaker used improperly modified software to control the diesel engines of its Vitara and S-Cross models and made the vehicles look as if they emitted less nitrogen oxide than they actually do, the company said Friday.
Suzuki updated software on the engines from November 2016, and the authorities concluded the following year that there was no problem with the updating. But they changed their view in a report provided to Suzuki in November last year, the company said.
The engines had been supplied by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. Suzuki no longer produces the two SUV models, it said.
Suzuki plans to respond to the authorities' order by mid-February.
Among other carmakers, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., a member of the three-way alliance with Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co., is facing similar allegations, with German prosecutors recently searching premises related to the company.
The emissions scandal first emerged in 2015 following investigations by prosecutors into cases linked to Volkswagen AG and other German carmakers.
In Japan on Friday, the transport ministry ordered Mitsubishi Motors to report on whether it has similar problems with its diesel-powered vehicles. The ministry has also held a hearing with Suzuki on the issue.