April 24, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR]  Some 950 Audi and Volkswagen vehicles that were confiscated last year for violating emissions tests will be shipped back to the German headquarters, industry sources said on Jan. 13.

“The seized cars have defects. We usually destroy the items that are confiscated, but it costs a lot to scrap cars. So we are planning to send them back to Germany at their cost,” an official with the prosecution said on condition of anonymity.

In June last year, South Korean prosecutors seized three models, including Audi A1, A3 and Volkswagen Golf, from the carmaker’s pre-delivery inspection center in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, saying two-thirds of cars had been imported without certification and the rest emits harmful gases.

The vehicles were the first cars equipped with Europe’s more stringent Euro 6 emission standard to be confiscated globally. 

An official of Audi Volkswagen Korea declined to comment on the issue.
 

The Seoul Central Prosecution Office on Jan. 11 wrapped up a yearlong probe into the German automaker’s emissions cheating scandal in Korea. The authorities indicted seven current and incumbent employees of the Korean unit, including Johannes Thammer, CEO of Audi Volkswagen Korea, and his predecessors Trevor Hill and Park Dong-hoon -- who now heads Renault Samsung Motors -- for fabricating test results to win sales approval from the country.

Separately, the Ministry of Environment on Jan. 12 approved VW’s stalled recall plan to fix 27,000 Tiguan sport utility vehicles to meet the emissions standards, after previously rejecting the proposals three times.

The Tiguan vehicles are among the 125,522 cars the Korean government ordered VW to recall in November 2015 after it admitted to manipulating emissions devices globally.

The ministry will review the remaining 99,000 vehicles for a recall.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)