SEOUL — South Korea’s anti-trust regulator said it will impose a combined fine of 42.3 billion won ($33.48 million) on Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and Audi for colluding to rig emissions of its diesel cars using software.
The four were involved in collusion that reduced competition and restricted consumer choice, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said on Thursday.
Mercedes was fined 20.7 billion won, BMW 15.7 billion won and Audi 6 billion won, the regulator said, adding that VW was not fined because it did not earn revenue relevant to the issue.
Last year, Mercedes and its Korean unit were fined 20.2 billion won for false advertising tied to emissions of diesel passenger vehicles.
The European Commission in 2021 fined VW and BMW a total of 875 million euros for colluding to curb the use of emissions cleaning technology they had developed.