South Korea stops all sales of car brands under Volkswagen Group



The government of South Korea has pulled the plugs on the sale of all brands under the Volkswagen Group umbrella, affecting up to 80 models all because of the dieselgate scandal. This includes carmakers such as Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche and of course Volkswagen themselves.

In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) detected irregularities in the emissions of VW AG’s diesel engines. The diesel engines were found to emit up to 40 times of the approved nitrogen oxide pollutants (known to cause acid rain) in the US. This led to a massive probe into VW and the EPA found that several diesel powered cars are fitted with a “defeat device” which allowed the cars to cheat emission tests. The discovery cost Volkswagen billions in damages, fines and recall campaigns.

2016 Porsche Macan GTS Launch - AutoBuzz.my
Even petrol-powered models are banned 

In South Korea, the Ministry of Environment has revoked more than 200,000 vehicle certifications (equivalent to our Approved Permit), which accounts to roughly 67 percent of the total number of Volkswagen AG vehicles sold since 2007. On top of that, VW AG is also slapped with a Korean ₩17.8bil fine (approximately RM64.5mil) of which is compounded against the 2015 ₩14bil (approximately RM50.7mil) fine.