The South Korean government has banned the sale of 80 Volkswagen models in the country, including the manufacturer’s popular Jetta and Golf models. The crackdown on the sale of high-emission cars has impacted a number of manufacturers selling in the country, but most prominently, Volkswagen. The news follows last year’s Volkswagen emissions scandal, which found German manufacturer Volkswagen intentionally cheating during mandatory emissions tests in the United States.
According to the Independent , German manufacturer Volkswagen was dealt another blow as South Korea revoked certification for 80 model variants of VW. At the same time, the company was fined 17.8 billion won by the country’s government for allegedly forging documents on emissions or noise level tests. That being said, Volkswagen wasn’t the only manufacturer impacted by the South Korean government’s crackdown, with Audi and Bentley seeing several of their models banned from sale in the country.
South Korea bans sales of 83,000 #Volkswagen vehicles https://t.co/mJZt9bjaFI pic.twitter.com/DGYAbPGwRY
— China.org.cn (@chinaorgcn) August 3, 2016
The news is sure to spell trouble for Volkswagen, one of the biggest players in the Asian market. Volkswagen was heavily relying on sales in South Korea, having tripled its revenue to over 2.82 trillion won in the last five years. However, the government’s decision to ban the sale of some of Volkswagen’s most popular models is sure to have a negative impact for the manufacturer.
Volkswagen rebutted any claims made by the South Korean government and said that it is considering a legal challenge to the ban. However, government officials confirmed that it could take up to the three months before Volkswagen is able to sell some of the affected models in the country again. During that time, Volkswagen is sure to lose a significant amount of its South Korean revenue, which could in turn prompt a decline in sales of Volkswagen manufactured vehicles across the Asian market.
According to BBC News , the probe is part of a large-scale crackdown by the South Korean government, which saw VW offices in South Korea raided by investigators. The country’s government are believed to be tackling Volkswagen with full force, with further plans to put the company’s executives on trial. South Korea is clearly looking to make an example out of Volkswagen in a bid to prevent other car manufacturers cheating the country’s strict emissions tests.
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This news comes off the back of the Volkswagen emissions scandal in late 2015. The German car manufacturer admitted to installing cheating software in diesel cars which detects when they are being tested for emissions and then runs the car below normal power to achieve better results.
Volkswagen faked documents on emissions and noise-level tests, South Korea says. https://t.co/uiIN0K8sDt pic.twitter.com/XRcED7cnv5
— NYT Business (@nytimesbusiness) August 2, 2016
Following the scandal, Volkswagen faced repercussions in a number of countries where its cars are sold. The problem was first uncovered in the US, but since then, over 11 million Volkswagen cars have been affected. The scandal has also had serious repercussions for Volkswagen’s share value, with the company quickly losing its spot as one of the most successful and trusted car manufacturers, enveloped in a scandal that’s taken a large number of vehicles off the road.
Not long after the scandal, Volkswagen announced that it was launching an internal investigation, with plans to recall millions of affected vehicles across the world. At the same time, the German based company set aside billions of dollars in fines and compensation for customers. However, the South Korean government looks to take its crusade against Volkswagen one step further by banning the sale of many of their most popular models and as aforementioned, holding the manufacturer’s bosses to account.
[Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images]
