Nissan Scandal
South Korean consumers who own the Qashqai model are seeking to file a class-action lawsuit against Nissan Korea Co., the local unit of the Japanese carmaker. The proposed suit will call for the company to refund the cost of the cars to them and compensate them for their trouble, including a fall in car prices. However, Nissan Korea flatly denied all allegations of fabricated emissions again.
Law firm Barun decided to collect people who own the Qashqai sport-utility vehicles imported and sold in the country by Nissan Korea and file a complaint against Nissan Korea and its local dealers with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on May 17. The law firm said that it has currently agreed with seven owners and is going to submit the petition next week.
The Ministry of Environment said on the 16th that it had launched a nationwide probe into 20 models of diesel cars sold in South Korea from December last year to April this year, and the Qashqai model was found to be automatically shut down the emission reduction system when the intake temperature of the engine room exceeded 35 degree Celsius.
The law firm will demand that Nissan Korea pay back the cost of cars and compensate consumers for damages through the class-action lawsuit shortly.
Law firm Barun lawyer Ha Jong-sun said, “Just like the a class-action suit against Volkswagen involved in the emissions manipulation scandal, the proposed suit will request the return of purchase money and the compensation for damages under the Korean Civil Code Section 110 which is related to the right to cancel a contract by fraud. The compensation for damages includes a decrease in car prices, performance and fuel consumption degradation caused by recalls and huge amount of repair costs. We have to see how much the compensation amount will be.”
Meanwhile, Nissan Korea clearly said that there is no problem with the model on the same day. Through the notice titled “To Nissan consumers” on the official website, it said, “Nissan is making every effort to not only abide by laws and regulations in all markets in which the company runs business but also satisfy stricter standards.”