Incessant Bickering
A local law firm, which is currently leading a class-action suit against Volkswagen involved in the emissions manipulation scandal, pointed out that the effect of German carmaker’s recalls would have limits without securing the source code of its vehicles’ engine control units (ECU) to analyze its software.
At a press conference on Apr. 12, Law firm Barun lawyer Ha Jong-sun said, “When the Ministry of Environment fails to obtain the ECU source code from Volkswagen, the government may end up accepting the incomplete recall plan provided by the company. This is because it cannot completely determine where violations of the Clean Air Conservation Act should be prosecuted without the source code.”
The Environment Ministry recently filed a complaint with prosecutors against Volkswagen for ignoring its request to submit the source code, and the investigation is currently ongoing. Until now, Volkswagen insisted, “When the company recalls the problematic cars sold in Korea and Europe by upgrading the software program of the electronic engine control system, it can make them satisfy environmental laws without interruptions for performance and fuel efficiency.”
However, it turned out that the software update did not help reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxide and CO2 but rather worsen the fuel efficiency as Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) recently checked the two recalled cars.