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South Korean consumers to include Renault-Nissan CEO in class-action lawsuit

Xinhua, May 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Korean consumers planning a class-action lawsuit against the local unit of Japanese automaker Nissan for alleged emissions fabrication will include Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer (CEO) of Renault-Nissan, in the list of defendants.

According to industry sources cited on Thursday by Yonhap news agency, local law firm Barun Law, which is collecting South Korean owners of Qashqai, a Nissan SUV model in question, will file a class-action suit against Ghosn as well as Takehiko Kikuchi, the head of Nissan Korea.

The law firm, which already collected about 30 owners, reportedly plans to file the lawsuit next week with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office for compensation and the refund of illegal profits.

The class-action suit would come after South Koreas environment ministry said Monday that emissions result of Qashiqai was illegally faked, announcing its plan to order a recall and a sales stop of the diesel model.

The announcement was based on the ministrys nationwide investigation into 20 diesel models, sold here between December last year and April this year, after German carmaker Volkswagens emissions scandal in 2015.

If confirmed, it would mark the first time since Volkswagens emissions fabrication last year that a foreign carmaker fabricated emissions result here.

According to the environment ministry, 814 Qashqai models, sold here between November last year and May 11, used the so-called defeat device to reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxide during the test.

The ministry plans to levy 330 million won (280,000 U.S. dollars) in fines on Nissan Korea within this month after receiving opinions from the company. It plans to order a recall on all of the 814 sold vehicles, while suspending the sales of the model.

Jason Ha, an attorney with Barun Law, was quoted as saying that the inclusion of Ghosn in the lawsuit stemmed from views that responsibility for this incident lies not only with Nissan Korea that imported and sold the vehicles but also with the CEO of Renault-Nissan headquarters.

Nissan Korea denied the alleged emissions fabrication, saying on Monday that the Qashqai had passed appropriate tests in South Korea as it did the tight tests in Europe, expressing regret for causing concerns among consumers.

It said the company will actively cooperate with the South Korean environment ministry to smoothly resolve the issue. Endit