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| BMW Korea Chairman Kim Hyo-joon apologizes upon his arrival at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seoul, Friday to face questioning over allegations the company covered up manufacturing defects in its vehicles that cause dozens of the engine fires last year. / Yonhap |
By Kim Jae-heun
Police summoned BMW Korea Chairman Kim Hyo-joon for questioning Friday over allegations the company covered up manufacturing defects in its vehicles that caused dozens of engine fires last year.
"I am truly sorry to have caused people concern," Kim said as he arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
The chairman is suspected of being complicit in violations of the Automobile Management Act.
"With the cooperation of our customers, our recalls have nearly been completed, and we are making every effort to prevent any more accidents from taking place," Kim said, adding that he would fully cooperate with any investigation.
However, the chairman would not comment on whether the German carmaker intentionally hid the defects or whether he personally accepted responsibility.
The global auto giant is suspected of covering up possible defects after dozens of its vehicles here caught fire, following similar incidents reported in Europe since 2016. BMW acknowledged this last July saying that it had found a defect in the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system.
Since last August, the carmaker has recalled about 106,000 vehicles to replace their EGR modules, with 102,468, or 96 percent, being repaired.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport launched a fact-finding team comprised of experts to investigate the case, and at the end of last year it concluded BMW had known about the fault since 2015, but continued selling the vehicles in Korea.
The ministry fined BMW 11.2 billion won ($9.5 million) for not reporting the problem or recalling any vehicles until the engines started to catch fire.
Separate from the ministry's investigation, some BMW car owners sued the head office, its Korean branch and relevant officials including Kim for violating the Automobile Management Act.
Police searched BMW Korea Group and its research center, as well as the EGR module supplier in Seoul three times last year. So far, they have booked 18 BMW officials here and abroad, including BMW Chairman Harald Kruger, BMW vice president for quality management Johann Ebenbichler and Kim.
Police said they have not decided whether to seek an arrest warrant for Kim, but added they suspect he played a "certain role" in concealing the defect.
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