Tuesday, August 2, 2016

South Korea suspends sale of Europe’s largest car maker

South Korea on Tuesday banned sales of 80 Volkswagen Group models and fined the German carmaker over allegations the firm rigged emissions test data.Volkswagen will be fined 17.8bn Korean won ($16m; £12m), in addition to a 14bn won fine from last year.

Europe’s largest car maker admitted last year that it had falsified emissions data in its diesel vehicles.


Europe’s largest automaker more than tripled sales in South Korea to 35,778 last year, before suffering a slump following the emissions scandal. South Korea is one of the major markets for its luxury brands like Audi and Bentley.

South Korea’s environment ministry also revoked certification for an additional 83,000 cars, bringing the total number of cars de-certified to more than 200,000.

That is about 68% of the 300,000 cars sold by VW in Korea since 2007.

The sales ban in South Korea affects 32 types of cars – including the VW Golf and Jetta – but a total of 80 models, which include different size engines or trimmings of each type of car.

The country is an important market for VW, especially for the firm’s luxury brands Bentley and Audi, and the company had more than tripled its sales before it was hit by a slump in the wake of the emissions scandal.

Volkswagen has sold about 310,000 vehicles in Korea in the past decade and many of its models are among the country’s most popular imported cars

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