Seoul (AFP)
South Korea announced on Tuesday that it will sue and fine Volkswagen and Porsche in the rigged diesel engine scandal to circumvent pollution levels.
The Ministry of the Environment said that more than 10,000 vehicles sold by German firms in South Korea between May 2015 and January 2018 were equipped with software to fudge nitrogen dioxide emissions records.
Eight car models - including the Audi A6, the Volkswagen Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne - will be revoked, and manufacturers will have to pay fines estimated at 11.5 billion won ($ 9.5 million). , 5 million euros), according to the ministry.
"We intend to continue to respond vigorously in the future to handling exhaust emissions," said a ministry official to the press.
At the end of July, the former boss of Audi Rupert Stadler was sent to the German court in the context of this large-scale scandal that broke out four years ago.
Stadler and three other executives or former executives of Audi will answer for "fraud", "issuing of false certificates" and "misleading advertising" in the context of the sale of 434.000 Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche, equipped with software rigged allowing reduce nitrogen dioxide emissions when vehicles are tested in the laboratory.
Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche have already been fined - some 30 billion euros for Volkswagen, including for vehicle recalls and compensation, while the dieselgate scandal is splashing much of the auto industry.
© 2019 AFP