Gov't apologizes for 'inappropriate' response to BMW fires

By Park Jae-hyuk

The government has apologized to the public for causing worries over BMW vehicles and advised owners of the German luxury cars to refrain from driving them because of safety concerns.

“We apologize to our fellow citizens for causing concerns over the series of accidents involving BMW vehicles,” said Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Son Byung-suk, who read a statement regarding the government's stance on BMW vehicles catching fire at the Government Complex in Seoul, Friday, on behalf of the transport minister, who was on summer vacation.

“We advise owners of the vehicles subject to recalls to get safety checks as soon as possible and refrain from driving their cars before the cars are found to be safe.”

But the ministry said it did not mean to advise Koreans to avoid driving all BMW vehicles.

“Those who do not own the 42 types of 106,317 cars subject to recalls are not relevant to our advice,” said Kim Chae-gyu, transport ministry director general for motor vehicles management.

He added the government had no plan to ban BMW owners from driving their cars.

“According to the law, the prohibition of driving is only available in case of natural disasters and wars,” Kim said. “Because the prohibition may infringe private ownerships of properties, we could not find similar cases in other countries.”

The ministry urged BMW to offer alternative cars to the owners as soon as possible and to hand in the company's information on its cars and auto parts for the government investigation.

BMW Korea said it had already arranged for major car rental companies nationwide to offer substitute vehicles during emergency safety checks, which are expected to end on Aug. 14. The recall will start on Aug. 20 at BMW service centers nationwide.

The company will also increase the number of call center employees to 100 from 30 and send more workers to its 61 service centers nationwide to minimize customer's inconvenience, according to the transport ministry.

The ministry said it would carry out surprise on-site inspections at BMW Korea's call centers and service centers to check on any customer inconvenience and to help improve service.

The ministry also promised to track down the cause of engine fires as soon as possible and to take strict measures against those responsible for the defects. According to BMW's vehicle inspections, an exhaust-gas recirculation module was the possible cause of recent fires.

“We will also check whether the government institutions and BMW have taken appropriate measures thus far,” the vice minister said.