April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Audi Volkswagen Korea, the local unit of German automaker, is gearing up to resume sales in Korea following the diesel scandal that halted sales of most of its cars last year. 

The Korean unit has applied for recertification of three Audi models -- S3, RS7 and A8L -- at the Environment Ministry. It is awaiting approval to resume sales in the market. 

Audi’s new car A7 55 TI Quattro has already cleared emissions and noise level certification by the ministry earlier this year. The Korean unit will begin sales of A7 after securing inventories from the German headquarters. 

The automaker said the exact comeback date is undecided, but according to industry sources, the cars will be ready to hit the market as early as July.

The Korean unit, however, hasn’t started the recertification process for VW cars. 

“We will apply for the recertification after completing reviews of all the documents of the cars,” an official from Audi VW Korea told The Investor. 

Industry watchers expect VW to focus on new cars to return to the market as the older models would become outdated by the time the recertification process is cleared. 

At the moment, Audi VW Korea is mulling to launch the new Tiguan SUV in the market. 

Separately, the automaker said its Tiguan SUV’s recall is going smoothly with the recall rate reaching about 35 percent since it began in February. The local unit was ordered to recall some 27,000 Tiguan cars for fabricating test results of emissions and noise level as part of the diesel scandal. 

Earlier in April, the ministry approved sales of three Bentley models -- Flying Spur V8, Continental GT V8 and Continental GT V8 Convertible. Audi VW Korea, which also imports Bentley luxury cars, is preparing to sell the models after obtaining inventories. 

In August, the ministry revoked certification and halted sales of 32 models of Audi, VW and Bentley vehicles, in addition to imposing hefty fines for manipulating emissions and noise level test results, to win sales approval.

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