[THE INVESTOR] A group of Volkswagen car owners plan to file a constitutional appeal on Sept. 20, demanding the South Korean government should enforce a replacement order on vehicles affected by the German automaker’s emission-rigging scandal.

Barun Law, a Korean law firm that represents VW owners in multiple suit against the automaker, said it will make an appeal against the Ministry of Environment for not issuing appropriate replacement orders for its diesel vehicles equipped with defeat devices designed to cheat on emissions test, local news reported on Sept. 19. 




The car owners have filed a petition against the ministry three times on June 9, June 27 and Aug. 1 to demand that Audi Volkswagen issues a replacement or a full refund on the vehicles. But the government has not taken any measure in response to their request.

In the constitutional appeal, the owners claim their environmental rights have been infringed due to government’s inaction. They price of their vehicles also devalued as a result of the scandal.

In November last year, the government fined Audi VW Korea and ordered it to recall more than 125,500 Audi and Volkswagen cars that installed defect device to pass the emission tests. Cars to be recalled were the Euro 5 EA189 diesel engine vehicles that have been at the center of the worldwide Volkswagen scandal. The Korean unit submitted recall plans three times to the ministry since then, but the authorities rejected it, saying the automaker did not admit to using a defeat device in its vehicles.

In August, the ministry banned sales and revoked certification of another 83,000 vehicles of Audi, Volkswagen and Bentley cars and revoked their certification over emission-rigging.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)