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S.Korea to re-investigate fuel efficiency of Volkswagen diesel cars

Xinhua, September 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

South Korean authorities plan to re- investigate the fuel efficiency of diesel cars, made by the German automaker Volkswagen that is being embroiled in an emission fabrication scandal, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday citing the transportation and environment ministries.

A transportation ministry official was quoted as saying that the Volkswagen models in question would be subject to the reinvestigation even though those models passed the fuel efficiency test in the past. He said the ministry is consulting with the environment ministry.

The environment ministry plans to conduct a thorough investigation next month into four Volkswagen diesel cars, including Golf, Jetta, Beetle and Audi A3 that passed the local emission test in the past.

If the German automaker intentionally duped regulators and consumers about emissions, Volkswagen would face the recall of those models or the imposition of penalty and the cancellation of the certification, Yonhap reported.

The emission fabrication scandal spread across the world after Volkswagen cheated U.S. air-pollution tests. Some 11 million cars, sold by Volkswagen worldwide, were estimated to be involved in the scandal.

In the South Korean market of imported cars, Volkswagen ranked third in terms of market share in the first eight months of this year. Volkswagen had a market share of 15.61 percent, following BMW with a 20.02 percent market share and Mercedes Benz with a 19. 25 percent share.

Including Audi's market share of 12.56 percent, Volkswagen is the largest foreign car seller in the country. Endi