BMW headquarters in Munich
Engine fires in Korea are now prompting searches.
(Photo: imago images/Future Image)
According to BMW, the public prosecutor’s office in Munich searched business premises at the BMW headquarters and in Steyr on Wednesday. The reason was a request for legal assistance from the South Korean authorities in 2020, which involved dozens of engine fires in BMW cars in South Korea in 2018.
The public prosecutor’s office in Seoul recently filed charges against BMW Korea and employees there on suspicion of concealing technical defects and starting recalls too late, said a BMW spokesman in Munich. The investigations by the Korean authorities against BMW were discontinued in May.
The spokesman emphasized that the investigations had never referred to the allegation of the use of impermissible defeat devices. The BMW Group is cooperating fully with the authorities in Korea as well as with the Munich I public prosecutor’s office. The public prosecutor’s office could not be reached for a statement at short notice.