At that time, the government watchdog accused AVK of falsely advertising that its models met the tightened European emission standards from 2008-2015 and its diesel-powered cars were highly energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

But AVK, Volkswagen and Audi together filed a lawsuit, claiming that the FTC's fine should be canceled.

It was the largest fine imposed by the FTC for false advertising, surpassing the previous record of 2 billion won set in 2002.

The so-called Volkswagen emissions scandal began in 2015 after regulators found that the German automaker group had intentionally programmed its diesel engines to activate their emissions controls only during emissions testing. (Yonhap)