Parliamentary Inspection

Mercedes Benz Korea CEO Britta Seeger is scheduled to attend the parliamentary inspection on Oct. 27 along with the other two local heads of German carmakers.
Mercedes Benz Korea CEO Britta Seeger is scheduled to attend the parliamentary inspection on Oct. 27 along with the other two local heads of German carmakers.

 

The representatives of the Korean offices of BMW, Mercedes Benz, and Audi will attend the parliamentary inspection to explain about suspicions concerning the automakers’ excessive profits and abnormally high repair costs in Korea. 

BMW Korea President Kim Hyo-joon, Mercedes Benz Korea President Britta Seeger, and Audi Korea President Johannes Thammer are scheduled to attend an inspection by the Transportation Committee of the National Assembly held on Oct. 27. The first two participated in the inspection last year as well. 

The three carmakers ranked first, second, and fourth in the imported car market in September. BMW and Mercedes Benz were criticized for their excessive profits at last year's parliamentary inspection. At that time, it was pointed out that Mercedes Benz Financial and BMW Financial raised the use of their automobile financing products to as high as 70 percent, to take 111.9 billion won (US$105 million) in extra profits. Although president Britta Seeger said that the two companies were separate corporations, it was found later that she was registered as an executive of Mercedes Benz Financial Service Korea, stirring controversy about perjury. 

BMW Korea, in the meantime, was recently investigated by the National Tax Service regarding transfer price-based tax evasion and BMW Financial Korea’s tax dodge allegations.

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