Mercedes Benz fined 168 million won for selling unregistered cars

By Jhoo Dong-chan

The government has fined Mercedes Benz Korea, a local subsidiary of the German premium automaker, 168 million won ($143,100) for selling unregistered vehicles.

According to the Ministry of Environment, Wednesday, Mercedes Benz violated the Air Environmental Conservation Act by selling four S350 diesel models with a nine-speed transmission without registering them with the authorities.

The models that were incorrectly registered are the S350 d, S350 d 4Matic, S350 d L and S350 d 4Matic L. A total of 98 vehicles with the nine-speed transmission have been reportedly sold.

However, the company had reported that it was only importing and selling the cars equipped with a seven-speed transmission called the 7G-Tronic.

The total price of those 98 vehicles was 11.2 billion won, and the ministry decided to impose a penalty of 1.5 percent of that price as a penalty.

Also, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) separately plans to report the case to the prosecution.

All carmakers are required by law to register all vehicles sold here with MOLIT. Violators could face a 10 million won ($8,000) fine or a maximum one-year prison sentence.

Separate from the government’s move, Mercedes Benz Korea reportedly plans to provide monetary compensation for the 98 vehicles’ owners, saying it was a "minor mistake,” but has not announced any official apologies.