Last month we learned that South Korean had banned approximately 20,000 BMW vehicles from its streets due to suspected engine fires. BMW quickly issued an apology and recalled 106,000 diesel-powered vehicles, a total of 42 models including the 520d. Several BMW owners in Korea also filed a class action suit against the German automaker. Now, according to CarScoops via the Yonhap news agency, 30 investigators from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency have raided BMW’s local headquarters in order to search for evidence indicating the automaker purposely hid information regarding engine defects that led to the fires. What will Korean authorities find? Who knows?
Nothing has been announced just yet, but the fact that a raid was authorized in the first place is a possible indicator this could become a serious issue. Also earlier this month, a criminal investigation was being sought following a complaint regarding the engine fires. What’s clear is that the South Korean government is messing around here and wants affected owners to take this issue with the utmost caution. As we previously reported, Korean government authorities prefer for affected owners not to drive their cars at all until answers are found.
“I am asking owners of the BMW cars subject to the recall to actively cooperate to prevent bigger accidents, despite your inconvenience,” said Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee. It appears the cause of the fires may have already been traced to a defect in the exhaust gas recirculation system, but nothing has been made official just yet. In the meantime, Korean police will begin sorting through whatever materials they confiscated following the raid as they search for any evidence of a cover-up.
No comments:
Post a Comment