South Korea to fine car makers on emission rules breach

South Korea’s Ministry of Environment plans to enforce a combined fine of NZ$90.2 million on units of automakers BMW AG, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche citing violation of emission rules. The BMW will be fine NZ$78 million for “falsifying” documents on emission test results and not obtaining approval for changes in emission-control components before their cars were sold, said the Ministry of Environment. The Mercedes-Benz and Porsche units will be fined around NZ$10 million and NZ$2.2 million respectively for the same reasons. The BMW unit said it is “faithfully cooperating” with the government on the investigation into certificate documentation errors, and will take necessary actions. A few of the 200,000 cars that had been imported through customs between 2012-2017 had been declared for customs before approval was given or changes in components were reported, the Mercedez-Benz unit said. Internal processes will be strengthened to stop such instances in future, it added. A spokeswoman for the Porsche unit said the ministry’s measure will not have any effect on their business, as the emissions fine only involves component changes between 2010 and 2015, and all cars being sold now are properly certified.