10 automakers fined $7.6 mn for selling cars with poor safety standards

Seoul, March 20 (IANS) The South Korean government said on Wednesday that it has imposed fines totalling 10.3 billion won ($7.6 million) on 10 foreign and domestic automakers for selling cars with inadequate safety standards.

Of those, nine were foreign companies, including Volkswagen Group Korea, Mercedes-Benz Korea, Ford Sales & Service Korea, Porsche Korea and BMW Korea, while Hyundai Motor Co. was the sole South Korean firm, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The ministry said the fines were based on corrective measures against defective parts of the companies' models from January to June of last year, reports Yonhap news agency.

Volkswagen Group Korea was subject to the largest fine of 3.5 billion won, followed by Mercedes-Benz Korea with 2.5 billion won.

Ford Sales & Service Korea and Porsche Korea were subject to 1 billion won each.

The ministry said it also imposed separate fines totalling 39 million won on five companies -- Stellantis Korea, Mercedes-Benz Korea, Volkswagen Group Korea, Ford Korea and Kia -- for selling cars without correcting defective parts.

Last week, Hyundai Motor and Kia voluntarily recalled nearly 170,000 electric vehicles (EV) to address a software error in the charging system.