Audi Q3 Among VW Group Vehicles Recalled as Dieselgate Spreads to Korea

For the first time outside of the US, Volkswagen's emissions rigging has been observed in the group's vehicles. The Korean Environment Ministry confirmed Thursday hat VW had used a piece of software to manipulate emissions levels during testing. Following this discovery, the Korean government has mandated that VW recall over 120,000, all outfitted with the diesel engines in question.

The Environment Ministry found the defeat device while testing the Volkswagen Tiguan Euro 5 equipped with the EA189 engine. The device turned on an exhaust gas recirculation system during the indoor emissions testing to fake emissions levels. When tested outdoors, the system did not turn on and excessive emissions were not detected.

The ministry moved to suspend the sales of all vehicles outfitted with the EA189 engine immediately. That totals approximately 125,522 cars. It also penalized VW Group 14.1 billion won (~US$12.3 million).

The recalled models are: the VW Tiguan, VW Beetle, Audi Q6, Audi Q3, and Audi A4. This is the first time that the Audi Q3 has been implicated in the Dieselgate scandal.

Multiple lawsuits are now being filed against VW Group, and the Korean government has said it will scrutinize all diesel models and enhance its testing procedures.

Korea is far from home for me, but the fact that this scandal seems to continue to spread to new regions, engines and vehicles makes me wonder if it is simply inevitable that owners on our forum are eventually affected.