40,000 Diesel Cars from Benz, Nissan, and Porsche Emission Scandal... Benz Fined 77.6 Billion Won

Ministry of Environment Finalizes Judgment on Over 40,000 Diesel Vehicles with Illegal Manipulation
Excessive Nitrogen Oxide Emissions During Driving... Up to 13 Times Above Standards
Illegal Manipulation Program Detected... Recall, Penalties, and Criminal Charges Enforced

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of Environment will impose fines and take criminal prosecution measures against Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Porsche for illegal manipulation of diesel vehicle emissions. Mercedes-Benz, which sold about 37,000 illegally manipulated vehicles, is expected to be fined 77.6 billion KRW.

On the 6th, the Ministry of Environment announced that it has finally determined that a total of 40,381 diesel vehicles of 14 models sold domestically by Mercedes-Benz Korea, Nissan Korea, and Porsche Korea were illegally manipulated in their emissions. The Ministry plans to cancel the emissions certification for these vehicles and take measures such as defect correction (recall) orders, fines, and criminal prosecution against Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Porsche.

The illegally manipulated vehicles were diesel cars sold between 2012 and 2018, which emitted excessive nitrogen oxides during actual driving, unlike during certification tests. It was confirmed that the illegal manipulation program was arbitrarily set, reducing the usage of urea solution for the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system that converts nitrogen oxides into water and nitrogen, and stopping the operation of the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system that reduces nitrogen oxide emissions.

Excessive Nitrogen Oxide Emissions... Up to 13 Times Higher Than Certification Standards

Suspicion of illegal manipulation of Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles was first raised by the German Ministry of Transport in June 2018. Subsequently, the Ministry of Environment also began investigating the relevant models and confirmed illegal manipulation through real driving condition tests.

In August 2018, Germany detected illegal software related to urea solution control in the Selective Catalytic Reduction system of models such as the GLC 220d (2.1L) and GLE 350d (3.0L), and issued recall orders.

From June 2018 to April this year, the Ministry of Environment conducted various tests including real driving emissions tests beyond indoor certification tests, and analyzed electronic control unit signals to investigate the emissions of the relevant models.

As a result, it was confirmed that 12 Euro 6 Mercedes-Benz diesel models emitted nitrogen oxides up to 13 times higher than the indoor certification standard of 0.08g/km during real driving. After the vehicle starts driving, as the driving period increases, manipulation was performed by reducing the urea solution usage in the SCR system or lowering the operating rate of the EGR system.

Suspicion of illegal manipulation of Nissan and Porsche diesel vehicles was confirmed after expanding the investigation to Euro 5 vehicles of these companies, which applied the same control logic as the previously detected illegally manipulated Euro 6 vehicles.

The Ministry of Environment investigated the illegality of Nissan and Porsche through defect confirmation inspections of vehicle emissions from August last year to April this year.

The Nissan Qashqai had a program that stopped the operation of the EGR system when the intake air temperature of the engine exceeded 35°C. This is the same program as the Euro 6 vehicles detected in May 2016. As a result, nitrogen oxide emissions exceeded the indoor certification standard by up to 10 times.

The Porsche Macan S Diesel had a program that reduced the operating rate of the EGR system starting 20 minutes after engine start. This is the same program as the Euro 6 vehicles detected in April 2018. As a result, nitrogen oxide emissions exceeded the indoor certification standard by up to 1.5 times.

Certification Canceled and Recall for Over 40,000 Diesel Vehicles... Mercedes-Benz Fined 77.6 Billion KRW

The Ministry of Environment will cancel the emissions certification this month for a total of 40,381 vehicles of 14 models, including 37,154 Mercedes-Benz, 2,293 Nissan, and 934 Porsche vehicles confirmed to have manipulated emissions. Additionally, recall orders, fines, and criminal prosecution will be imposed on Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Porsche, which imported and sold these vehicles.

The Ministry estimates that the fines will amount to 77.6 billion KRW for Mercedes-Benz, 900 million KRW for Nissan, and 1 billion KRW for Porsche. Importers ordered to recall must submit a defect correction plan to the Ministry of Environment within 45 days for approval, and vehicle owners will receive recall services according to the approved plan.

Geum Han-seung, Director of Air Quality Policy at the Ministry of Environment, said, "The Ministry is continuously strengthening diesel vehicle emission standards to reduce fine dust caused by diesel vehicles. We will thoroughly inspect and manage illegal emissions manipulation. Through this, we will establish proactive administration that the public can trust."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.