German car companies in South Korea are to pay a total of more than the equivalent of 31 million euros in fines. The local competition authority sees illegal collusion between the companies.
The car manufacturers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi are to pay millions in fines in South Korea for cartel agreements in connection with emission control systems for diesel vehicles. In a statement on Thursday, South Korea’s competition authority accused the three producers and Volkswagen of having “restricted competition and consumer choice”. According to the national news agency Yonhap, the companies can take legal action against the decision of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).
According to the agency, the fines are provisionally set at 20.7 billion won ($18.3 million) for Mercedes-Benz, 15.7 billion won for BMW and 5.9 billion won for Audi – a total of 42.3 billion won (31.3 million euros). Volkswagen does not have to pay a fine because the affected models were not sold in South Korea.
The authority came to the conclusion that “there was a consensus among the four companies to reduce the consumption of urea solutions”. Your behavior is tantamount to an agreement. Toxic nitrogen oxide emissions are to be reduced with a special urea solution. For certain diesel vehicles, the solution must be added to the tank in addition to the fuel.
High penalties in 2021 from the EU Commission
In 2021, the EU Commission imposed high fines on BMW and Volkswagen for illegal agreements on so-called Adblue tanks. The special urea solution is in the tanks used to clean exhaust gases in diesel cars. The Mercedes-Benz Group (formerly Daimler) got off without a fine because of the leniency program.
According to the car manufacturers, the investigation in South Korea dealt with the same facts that were already the subject of the European Commission’s antitrust proceedings. “Agreements or an exchange of information on prices, quantities or market sharing were not the subject of the proceedings,” said Mercedes-Benz. The company has cooperated with the FTC. BMW announced that it would initially wait for the authority’s written justification.
Source: Stern
