By Christian George
Three German car manufacturers, Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi have been fined by South Korea’s anti-trust regulator a total sum of 42.3 billion won ($33.48 billion) for colluding to rig emissions of its diesel cars using software.
Mercedes-Benz was fined 20.7 billion won followed by BMW’s15.7 billion won as well as Audi 6, billion won.
However, Volkswagen which was somehow linked to the rigging was not fined because, according to report, it did not earn revenue relevant to the issue.
According to Korea Fair Trade Commission, the German auto manufacturers were involved in collusion that reduced competition and restricted consumer choice.
Reuters further revealed that Mercedes-Benz and its Korean unit were fined 20.2 billion won for false advertising tied to gas emissions of diesel passenger vehicles while the European Commission in 2021 fined Volkswagen and BMW a total of 875 million euros for colluding to curb the use of emissions cleaning technology they had developed.
