Nissan, BMW, Porsche allegedly obtained sales approval with false report

By Jhoo Dong-chan

The Korean branches of Nissan, BMW and Porsche allegedly obtained sales approval for their vehicles by submitting “false reports” to the government.

The Ministry of Environment (MOE) said in a press release Tuesday that a total of 10 models ― one from BMW, two from Nissan and seven from Porsche Korea models ― were involved.

“However, we can’t say at this point whether their reports were intentionally fabricated,” a ministry official said.

The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), a ministerial agency in charge of vehicle inspections, said it will hold a hearing on the cases in mid-December. The MOE will then decide on whether to impose punitive measures, including levying fines or a sales ban on the affected models, based on the degree of any wrongdoing.

Of the three brands, Porsche Korea voluntarily spoke of its false reports to the prosecution and the ministry during a NIER inspection. Porsche is one of the Volkswagen Group’s affiliates, and has been long suspected of possible emissions cheating similar to its parent company.

Its seven models ― the Macan S Diesel, Cayenne SE Hybrid, Cayenne Turbo, Cayenne GTS, 918 Spider, 911 GT3 and Panamera SE Hybrid ― were found to have defects in their certification documents.

Nissan Korea’s affected models are the Infiniti Q50 and Qashqai.

A NIER official said Nissan Korea is most likely to have “cheated” on emissions tests.

“Nissan Korea said in documents that it carried out emissions test for the Infiniti Q50 in Japan. Based on our investigation, the model has never undergone such a test in Japan,” he said.

“We will hear from them soon, but the evidence is quite solid.”

For BMW Korea, it allegedly used data of the X6 M SUV model for the X5 M certification process.

BMW Korea said they used the same data because the two models share the same engine and emissions reduction device. The German automaker’s local unit said they will explain further at the hearing.

The two models do share the same engine and emissions reduction device, but the design and weight are different.

Finding that Volkswagen obtained sales approvals for its vehicle by using faked reports on noise levels, fuel efficiency and emissions results, the MOE banned sales of the German carmaker's 80 models and revoked their certifications in August. It also carried out inspections on 23 foreign carmakers to check whether they obtained sales approvals in a similar manner.