Mercedes-Benz resumes diesel vehicle sales in Korea

Mercedes-Benz C220d / Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Korea

By Nam Hyun-woo

Mercedes-Benz has resumed sales of its diesel vehicles in Korea after briefly suspending customer delivery of nine diesel models.

Mercedes-Benz Korea said Wednesday it has resumed customer delivery of the diesel vehicles which had been suspended since last Friday.

Although the company refused to reveal which models, industry officials said the German carmaker had told dealers to suspend the delivery of nine diesel vehicles, including the A220d, C220d, E220d, GLC 220d, GLC 220d Coupe and GLE 300d.

A Mercedes-Benz Korea official said the carmaker suspended delivery due to “issues related to pre-delivery checkups,” but refused to elaborate.

“However, this is unrelated to last year's punitive measures from the environment ministry,” the official said.

Last May, Mercedes-Benz Korea was fined 77.6 billion won ($63 million) after the ministry determined that the German carmaker illegally used software in the diesel vehicles to manipulate nitrogen oxide emission data during testing. It was the largest fine given to a single car company in Korea.

The environment ministry's punishment of Mercedes-Benz Korea stems from the carmaker's 2018 emissions scandal in Germany. A year later, prosecutors in Stuttgart imposed a fine of 870 million euros ($957 million) for violating diesel emissions regulations.

Mercedes-Benz Korea claimed the environment ministry's decision was unfair and filed a suit with the Seoul Administrative Court in October. The case is still in deliberation as the court delayed a number of trials due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the ministry's punishment, prosecutors are also investigating Mercedes-Benz Korea's alleged emissions-rigging. But the investigation is known to be in a stalemate as the former CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea, Dimitris Psillakis, left the country before being questioned by prosecutors.

Mercedes-Benz Korea had said Psillakis had left on a business trip, but he did not come back to Korea. The company replaced its chief with interim CEO Kim Jee-seop and later appointed Thomas Klein as CEO.

During a Jan. 26 press conference, Klein said the company will cooperate sincerely with investigators.