Former VW Korea Chief Labeled ‛Suspect’ in Emissions Scandal

After being questioned as a material witness in the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal, Renault Samsung Motors CEO Park Dong-hoon officially is being labeled a suspect by the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office and now faces further questioning.

Park ran Audi Volkswagen Korea as its managing director from 2005 to 2013, before moving over to RSM.

This further unraveling of the complex emissions-rigging case in Korea takes place as VW sales for the first six months of 2016 reveal an importer hit hard by the scandal.

Deliveries in the period fell 33% from like-2015 to 12,463 units, with sales in June off a whopping 57.6% to 1,834. The June tally represents a 21% drop from May levels.

Audi sales in Korea also have suffered, declining 10% to 13,058 for the first six months.

Before being questioned by prosecutors as a material witness this week, Park told reporters he had no knowledge of the deceptive diesel-emissions-rigging scheme that occurred under his watch and that he would cooperate fully with the investigation.

A day later, prosecutors changed Park’s status to suspect and scheduled more questioning for July 8 at the infamous VIP suite at the District Prosecutor’s Office. The suite has seen many Korean CEO’s grilled intensively, sometimes for more than 12 hours at a stretch, during investigations into white-collar crime cases. The suite includes a prison cell and, regardless of high social status, suspects all are treated to the same intensive examination methods.

Park first joined Audi VW Korea in 2001. VW’s sales soared after he took over as managing director in 2005, and the brand soon closed in on Korean import market leader BMW Korea.

Selling just 929 units in 2004, VW sales soared 293% over the next two years, tallying 3,649 units in 2006. Demand continued to rise, as sales passed the 10,000-unit mark in 2010 and reached 17,000 units in 2012, Park’s last full year with Audi VW Korea. The year he left, brand sales reached 30,719 units.

When accepting the post of vice president-sales at RSM, Park said he felt he had taken Audi VW as far as he could and looked forward to the challenge of building his new employer’s sales volumes.