▲ Youngmin Kim, Director of Transportation and Environment


Some diesel cars sold in Korea under the brands Audi Volkswagen and Porsche reveal the situation of manipulating the device to increase the amount of fine dust-causing substances.

The Ministry of Environment said on August 20 that a total of 12,61 diesel cars imported and sold by Audi Volkswagen Korea and Porsche Korea were determined to have increased emissions of nitrogen oxides, a fine dust-causing substance, due to a reduction in urea water injection.

All eight caught were Euro 6 vehicles, the European standard for automobile emissions, which were sold from May 2015 to January last year.

Specific models include the Audi A6 40 TDI Quattro, the Audi A6 50 TDI Quattro, the Audi A7 50 TDI Quattro, the Volkswagen Touareg V6 3.0 TDI BMT, the Volkswagen Touareg 3.0 TDI 4 Motion and the Porsche Cayenne.

These vehicles were found to have been operated to reduce the amount of urea injection when running above 100 km / h with insufficient urea.

Urea water is a liquid in which urea (ammonia) is supplied to the device to reduce nitrogen oxides emitted from diesel engines.

An official from the Ministry of Environment explained, "The operation was performed to reduce the performance of the emission reduction device under different driving conditions."

Due to illegal operation, the emissions of these vehicles were found to be more than 10 times higher than without operation (0.064 g / km).

The Ministry of Environment immediately launched an investigation into the car when the German Automobile Agency (KBA) discovered illegal manipulation of the Audi A6 and A7 last June.

In addition to the Audi A6 and A7, the Ministry of Environment confirmed that the same illegal manipulation was applied to two Volkswagen Touareg and one Porsche Cayenne.

Audi Volkswagen and Porsche have been caught in the past for illegal manipulation of emissions.

In particular, the Volkswagen Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne were the same vehicles that were discovered in April last year due to illegal operation of the exhaust gas recirculation control system.

The Ministry of Environment will revoke the 8 types of vehicles detected and will continue to carry out measures such as ordering defect correction, advance notice of penalty charges, and criminal charges against Audi Volkswagen Korea and Porsche Korea.

The two companies will not be able to sell their revoked vehicles in the future.

It is estimated that Audi Volkswagen will pay a fine of 7.9 billion won and Porsche 4 billion won.

Geum Han-seung, an air environment policy officer at the Ministry of Environment, said, "We will deal more strictly with the illegal operation of automobile emissions to reduce fine dust, which is a national concern."

(Photo: provided by the Ministry of Environment, Yonhap News)