South Korean Government to investigate more Volkswagen cars

Seoul: On Tuesday, South Korean authorities are set to examine more vehicles manufactured by German car maker Volkswagen following an announcement that some of its larger models were also found to have rigged emission results, officials said.

Yonhap News Agency reported, since last month, the South Korean government has been conducting its own test to see if the same software was used to fake emissions figures for the cars sold here.

A government official said that a similar investigation will be carried out into the 3.0-litre models after the ongoing investigation into the 2-litre models is completed by mid-November.

Last month, Audi Volkswagen Korea, the local unit of the German car maker said that around 120,000 vehicles will be subjected to a recall here in connection with the emission scandal.

Earlier, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted a notice on its website, alleging that Volkswagen had faked emissions results for 3.0-litre vehicle models.

Volkswagen denied the claim, saying in a statement that it “wishes to emphasize that no software has been installed in the 3-litre V6 diesel power units to alter emissions characteristics in a forbidden manner.”

The notice is the second of its kind issued by the EPA, which stunned the world by announcing in mid-September that Volkswagen used stealthy software to fake emissions results for its 2.0-litre diesel engine vehicles.

Following the first announcement, Volkswagen admitted to the EPA claim immediately.