April 27, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Audi Volkswagen Korea’s recall process, which began on Feb. 6, is facing resistance from customers as some of them pledged to continue their ongoing legal battle against the troubled carmaker.

“Our plaintiffs will not accept the recall offer until a court ruling on the case,” said Ha Jong-sun, a lawyer at Barun that represents the car owners.

In January, some 610 car owners filed a petition against the Ministry of Environment at the Seoul Administrative Court to nullify the recall plan that was submitted by Audi Volkswagen Korea, saying the plan was insufficient to fix the massive emissions-cheating scandal. 

The ministry approved Volkswagen’s first set of recall plan on Jan. 12 for 27,000 Tiguan SUVs for rigging emissions test, after previously rejecting the proposals three times. They 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 local unit of the German automaker said it has started a recall of its Tiguan 2.0 TDI SUVs beginning Feb. 6. The recall will be available through a software update which is expected to take about 30 minutes.

However, if more customers refuse the recall, it could affect Audi Volkswagen’s ongoing and upcoming recall procedures and its ultimate plan to resume sales in Korea, industry watchers say.

The ministry is currently reviewing the remaining 99,000 vehicles, which include Volkswagen Golf and Audi A6, for a recall.

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