Korea Prosecutors Quiz Audi VW CEO, But Arrest Iffy

After months of waiting to face grilling over his alleged involvement in faking emissions tests, Johannes Thammer, CEO of Audi Volkswagen Korea, appeared for questioning as a suspect at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office.

“I am sorry for this situation and we will cooperate faithfully with the prosecutor,” Thammer told reporters and TV crews Thursday without getting into specifics.

According to sources in the prosecutor’ office, Thammer is suspected of falsifying emissions, NVH and fuel-efficiency test documents used to obtain government certification for more than 80 vehicle variations of 32 basic models sold in Korea since 2009.

The Ministry of the Environment has decertified all the affected vehicles, barring their sales and putting in question the status of 83,000 already-sold vehicles that now have no certification.

Thammer also is suspected of being implicit in the use of rigged Dieselgate software that enables vehicles to pass emissions tests, but revert to higher emissions levels during normal driving.

Last November the ministry ordered a recall of 126,000 vehicles sold with the rigged software, but so far has rejected three Audi-VW recall proposals.

The penalty for falsifying the documents to fraudulently obtain vehicle certification carries a fine of up to 30 million won ($27,000) and a possible jail penalty of up to five years.

Thammer is a long way from being charged, however. If prosecutors decide to ask the Seoul Central District Court to approve an arrest warrant, the matter would have to be reviewed by the courts before a summons could be approved.

On Hot Seat

If prosecutors seek an arrest warrant it’s possible the courts would be reluctant to approve it, considering the already-aggressive actions of the Ministry of the Environment.

The agency has decertified 209,000 vehicles comprising 68% of all models sold by Audi VW since 2007. That virtually has halted significant Audi-VW sales in Korea and is having a severe economic impact on retailers of those brands.

Thammer has been on the prosecutors’ hot seat since November, when he and other Audi-VW executives were summoned before Korea’s National Assembly to answer questions about suspected emissions cheating. The CEOs of BMW Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea were questioned at the same time.

Thammer, and the other chiefs of German brands in Korea, were submitted to intense questioning by lawmakers that included accusations that illegal high emissions statistically had caused many deaths in Korea. Thammer had promised lawmakers action would be taken to address all of the irregularities.

Also in November the Ministry of the Environment ordered Audi VW Korea to recall more than 125,000 diesel-powered vehicles that allegedly used rigged software to pass emissions tests.

However, since Thammer’s appearance before the National Assembly, VW has failed to submit an acceptable recall plan to the ministry, so the matter still is  open.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office has not released details of its Thursday questioning of Thammer.

One Korean newspaper, The Korea Times, has written an editorial scolding the National Assembly for not changing laws it says are lenient toward automakers and instead summoning senior executives to embarrass them and their companies to make it appear they were taking a “get-tough.”.

Korea’s vehicle regulations go relatively soft on automakers, a throwback to the 1960s when the government was trying to nurture the fledgling industry.

As the Korea Times contends, the industry has grown and even surpassed the government’s hopes, but the lenient laws and policies remain in effect.