New top executives at Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. have vowed to improve product quality in the wake of a scandal involving vehicle defect cover-ups. Harald Boelstler, incoming company president, stated that the Japanese company, Mitsubishi Fuso, has established a new business base and model that gives top priority to product quality. The company used to be a division of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., but has operated since 2003 as a separate entity. DaimlerChrysler owns 65 percent of the company. Seven Mitsubishi Fuso executives were indicted last year, after an investigation found evidence of engineering failure cover-ups, long-term fraud and deception.

Despite the defect cover-ups, Mitsubishi Fuso still commands 24 to 25 percent of the truck and bus market, says Boelstler, who’s also a former executive of the DaimlerChrysler AG. DaimlerChrysler AG will work closely with the Japanese automaker under its global business strategy, Boelstler says.

Mitsubishi Fuso is an Asian commercial vehicle company, with market shares in Japan, Indonesia and other Asian markets. The company employs 16,000 people worldwide. In 2003, Mitsubishi Fuso expanded its businesses with an alliance with DaimlerChrysler.

For more information, visit www.mitfuso.com.

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