Expansion of Investigation
The South Korean Ministry of Environment will expand an investigation into the fabrication of emission and noise-level test results to all foreign car brands. It will conduct examinations of over 100 different models equipped with Euro 6-engines sold by imported carmakers. The government has decided to check whether imported brands cheated on emissions and noise level tests to gain eligibility to sell here, after a whistleblower’s report that Volkswagen’s document cheating is a rampant practice in the imported car industry in Korea.
According to a government official on August 17, the Ministry of Environment has formed a task force team to start a probe on the fabrication of test results submitted by imported automakers. Unlike Audi Volkswagen Korea, which was found to have submitted fabricated test results in the process of prosecution investigation including seizures, the ministry will autonomously conduct the probe.
It will compare the registration documents of the models submitted by the carmaker to the Korean government with the original vehicle certification issued by the headquarters to check if the specifications match. However, it is still in question whether the Ministry of Environment, which doesn’t have authority to investigate, can conduct the probe properly as the manipulation of documents for years was found out through investigation by prosecutors. However, an official from the Ministry of Environment said, “It is perfectly possible to check whether automakers cheated on test results by comparing the certified documents issued overseas and in Korea by model. We will give a notice about the investigation plan to imported carmakers in the near future.”
Meanwhile, the prosecution found out that Audi Volkswagen Korea falsified 37 noise and emission test results when applying for the certification from January 2010 to February 2015. With the automaker bending the rule to pass the certification with written documents, it fabricated the test results on purpose by replacing them with that of other vehicle models, which gained the certification. Volkswagen is suspected of falsifying 139 performance reports.
Earlier, the Ministry of Environment revoked licenses on 83,000 Volkswagen and Audi vehicles of 80 models in 32 variants sold in Korea between January 2009 to July 2016 for cheating on emissions and noise level tests.