Top Volkswagen executives accused of fraud in emission scandal

The German auto major has made a decision to suspend vehicle sales in South Korea which will be effective from July 25, 2016.

VW has admitted that about 500,000 diesel cars it sold in the US had software created to cheat on emissions tests. The pressure built on the German automaker over its falsified emissions tests has been a major cause of this drastic move.

After Volkswagen had agreed to pay $14.7 billion in the United States of America over the emissions issue related to 2.0 TDI-engined cars, the German juggernaut now faces the wrath of South Korea. It will set aside $10 billion to fix or buy back the 475,000 diesel vehicles tainted with cheat devices, represents the largest automotive settlement in history. – “If Audi Volkswagen Korea hadn’t suspended sales of the troubled models themselves, the Korean government would have forced the suspension by the end of the month”.

It is expected to take several months for Volkswagen to achieve certification again for the models.

The emissions scandal first started past year, when the EPA revealed that Volkswagen had programmed diesel cars to emit fewer pollutants during emissions tests than during regular operation. If the review committee had revoked the certifications, than it would have anyhow led to a sales ban on the affected models in the country.

As of now, Volkswagen will take a decision whether to take legal action against South Korea’s planned decision, this will be known after the company will present its case to the South Korean ministry on July 25. Globally, the company has already set aside about 16.2 billion euros ($17.85 billion) to cover the cost of the scandal and this week said that it had set aside a further 2.2 billion euros.