Mercedes Benz fined $16.9M in S.Korea over gas emission issue

Mercedes Benz was fined by South Korea's antitrust regulator on Monday, Feb 7. The German luxury automotive company must pay a ₩20.2 billion or $16.9 million penalty due to emission violations.

According to Reuters, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) made the decision to serve the fine to the Korean unit of Mercedes Benz because it was found to have tampered with pollution devices. It was reported that the automaker installed illegal software in some of its units, and this was done to make them perform at lower levels in normal driving conditions compared to during certification tests.

The KFTC said that Mercedes Benz Korea posted false ads related to the gas emissions of its diesel passenger vehicles. It was discovered that 15 of the brand's vehicle models had illegal software installed in them.

"It is meaningful to impose sanctions against the country's No.1 imported car sales operator for obstructing consumers' rational purchase choices with false and deceptive advertisements about its emission reduction performance even after the Dieselgate scandal," the Korean antitrust watchdog said in a statement.

Moreover, Mercedes Benz Korea was also said to have falsely claimed that their vehicles' emissions stay at a minimum level. The carmaker advertised that some of its diesel models have the capability of reducing 90% of nitrogen oxide emissions which is the primary cause of fine dust, but the KFTC said that this is not true.

The Fair Trade Commission also said that the car company claimed the vehicles' emissions conform to the Euro 6 standards between the years August 2013 and December 2016. These claims were said to have been extensively posted on Mercedes Benz's magazines, catalogs, brochures, and even inside the cars.

The claims are different from what KFTC had discovered. The nation's regulator stated the company's selective catalytic reduction systems that can help lower emissions have excessively deteriorated just after 30 minutes of driving. Plus, the vehicles emitted up to 14 times more nitrogen oxide than what the Korean environmental regulations allow.

The Korea Herald reported that Mercedes Benz Korea contradicted the findings and said that 90% of its vehicles are mostly driven for under 30 minutes in the country. The company added that the "SCR reduces 90 percent of nitrogen oxide" phrase that appears in their ads is a commonly used phrase in the vehicle industry and academia.