VW acknowledged on Friday some software on 2009-2016 diesel vehicles including the Porsche Cayenne, Volkswagen Touareg and Audi A6, A7, A8, Q5 and Q7 vehicles have an undeclared auxiliary emissions control that could be considered a “defeat device”.
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The ministry also ordered the suspension of unsold VW and Audi vehicles and slapped the auto maker with a 14.1bn won (£8.2bn) fine.
Hong Dong Gon, a director at the Ministry of Environment, speaks about investigation results of Volkswagen vehicle emissions during a press conference at the government complex in Sejong, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015.
Volkswagen Group is going to have recall all of its cars with 3-liter diesel engines in California under an order issued Wednesday by the state’s air-quality authority.
Audi told regulators the device played a role in changing how the vehicles operate during emissions testing, but stopped short of saying it cheated in the same way that Volkswagen has admitted to using software to rig tests for its smaller diesels.
The cars containing the affected EA189 engines were primarily sold in South Korea between 2008 and 2015, the ministry said.
The defeat device was meant to deactivate an emissions reduction device during road driving to allow the vehicle greater fuel efficiency.
To encourage customers to return their cars, the ministry said it would distribute stickers to be attached to vehicles that have completed the recall procedure to remind those who have yet to bring their cars in.
If a late model diesel Volkswagen, Audi or Porsche is in your personal or company fleet, expect a recall notice. In addition, most of the diesel vehicles sold in the United States – 320,000 out of a total of 480,000 – are equipped with older emissions technology that could be harder to make compliant.
Volkswagen says that these fixes will make the two EA 189 engines compliant with emissions requirements. The fine is the steepest financial penalty imposed on an automaker by South Korea ever.
The Environment Ministry’s probe results will likely lead to more lawsuits against Volkswagen.
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The mesh, or “flow transformer”, is created to help measure the accuracy of air intake for optimum combustion and would be fitted to only to the rigged 1.6 litre diesel engines. Volkswagen needs to submit the recall plan of the affected vehicles within 45 business days.
