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Recently, South Korea's antitrust regulator issued a huge fine to Mercedes-Benz's Korean subsidiary and its German parent company for claiming in an advertisement that its diesel vehicles can significantly reduce the emission of pollutants in the exhaust gas through technology. But after investigation, the actual situation is just the opposite.
South Korea's antitrust regulator, the Fair Trade Commission, said on the 6th of this month that it imposed a fine of 20.2 billion won, or about 100 million yuan, on Mercedes-Benz's Korean subsidiary and German parent company for falsely and exaggerated the effect of exhaust emission reductions, involving 15 diesel models sold in South Korea from 2012 to 2018, totaling about 32,000 vehicles.
Between August 2013 and December 2016, Mercedes-Benz claimed in its magazines, brochures, advertisements and other publicity that its diesel vehicles could keep emissions of nitrogen oxides, one of the main pollutants of the air, at a minimum, meeting the EU's Level 6 emission standards, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission. At the same time, the internal exhaust emissions of diesel vehicles sold from April 2012 to November 2018 are also marked with the words in line with The Korean Atmospheric Environment Law. In fact, Mercedes-Benz has installed illegal software on its diesel vehicles, and through control, the vehicle can meet emission reduction standards in the certification and testing environment, but in the actual road for about 30 minutes, the nitrogen oxide emissions can reach up to 14 times the standard value.
Despite Mercedes-Benz's strong defense, the Korea Fair Trade Commission believes that Mercedes-Benz only advertised the theoretical maximum performance of its exhaust emission technology, deliberately concealed the actual emissions, and misled consumers' choices with false and deceptive advertising. At present, Mercedes-Benz South Korea said that it is difficult to take a position before receiving the official notification documents from the relevant departments.
In 2015, volkswagen and other automobile companies caused a sensation in the world, and many countries launched investigations. After six years of investigation and processing, with the Mercedes-Benz being fined this time, the Korean Fair Trade Commission has sanctioned all five overseas car companies involved, and the exhaust emission fraud incident has finally entered the final stage in South Korea.
A series of penalties have also impacted the brand image of these car companies in the Korean market, Mercedes-Benz, which has been at the top of the Sales List of Imported Cars in South Korea for many years, even fell to the second place in the first month of this year, and the analysis believes that under the subsequent influence of false publicity of exhaust emissions, Mercedes-Benz's position in the hearts of Korean consumers will continue to waver.