SEOUL, May 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korea will fine Mercedes-Benz Korea, Nissan Korea and Porsche Korea for rigging the emissions data of their diesel models sold here, Seoul's environment ministry said Wednesday.
Mercedes-Benz Korea, the South Korean unit of the German automaker, submitted fabricated emissions data of its 12 diesel models.
It sold a total of 37,154 units of the models here between 2012 and 2018.
Nissan Korea and Porsche Korea falsified emissions data for 2,293 units of Qashqai and 934 units of Macan S diesel models each that were sold from 2012 and 2018.
Mercedes-Benz Korea will be fined 77.6 billion won (63.4 million U.S. dollars), with Nissan Korea and Porsche Korea to be fined 900 million won (735,600 U.S. dollars) and 1 billion won (817,300 U.S. dollars) respectively.
The three automakers were found to have operated illegal software to manipulate the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR).
The manipulation reduced nitrogen oxide emissions during tests, raising the emissions while driving. Nitrogen oxide is a toxic air pollutant that produces fine dust. Enditem
