10 automakers fined 10.3 bln won for selling cars with subpar safety standards

The government said Wednesday it has imposed fines totaling 10.3 billion won (US$7.6 million) on 10 foreign and domestic automakers for selling cars with inadequate safety standards. Of those, nine were foreign companies, including Volkswagen Group Korea, Mercedes-Benz Korea, Ford Sales and Service Korea, Porsche Korea and BMW Korea, while Hyundai Motor Co. was the sole South Korean firm, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The ministry said the fines were based on corrective measures against defective parts of the companies' models from January to June of last year. Volkswagen Group Korea was subject to the largest fine of 3.5 billion won, followed by Mercedes-Benz Korea with 2.5 billion won. Ford Sales and Service Korea and Porsche Korea were subject to 1 billion won each. The ministry said it also imposed separate fines totaling 39 million won on five companies -- Stellantis Korea, Mercedes-Benz Korea, Volkswagen Group Korea, Ford Korea and Kia -- for selling cars with out correcting defective parts. Source: Yonhap News Agency