Mercedes fighting fine for cheating on emissions test

Mercedes-Benz Korea has requested a Seoul court to cancel a multibillion-won fine imposed on the company for manipulating diesel emissions in the country, judicial sources said Tuesday.

The German carmaker filed a lawsuit against the environment ministry in October with the Seoul Administrative Court, seeking the cancellation of a 77.6 billion-won ($69.3 million) fine over its emission manipulation, the sources said.
Details on the upcoming hearing schedules have yet to be disclosed.

As for the ongoing proceedings, Mercedes-Benz Korea said Tuesday it has "cooperated fully with the ministry and will continue to do so."

In May, the ministry imposed the fine, the biggest of its kind, on the automaker for installing test-cheating software in its 12 diesel models, including the C200d sedan and the GLC220d 4MATIC SUV. A total of 37,154 units of such models were sold between 2012 and 2018.

The company used the illegal software designed to produce false results during vehicle emissions testing and turn off the emissions reduction system during actual driving, flouting the country's environmental laws, the ministry said.

Yonhap