Tension between the government and foreign carmakers appeared to deepen on Monday following audit results on fuel mileage from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the top imported carmakers in the country, including Chrysler.
The 2013 fuel efficiency test that is arousing controversy in the automotive sector found Chrysler’s 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee to have inflated its fuel efficiency, a key indicator influencing car purchases.
“It is hard to accept the results as Chrysler’s 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee used gas mileage tested by the Korea Petroleum Quality & Distribution Authority in 2012,” said a Chrysler spokesman.
The Korea Petroleum Quality & Distribution Authority is one of four fuel economy test organizations accredited by the ministry.
The ministry, however, argued that Chrysler has no grounds to appeal.
“It doesn’t make sense since we tested (the automakers) twice using different organizations to prevent errors,’’ Oh Jae-chul of the ministry said, adding that they received the same results on the two tests conducted on Chrysler.
The ministry can slap fines on carmakers whose reported fuel economies showing a discrepancy of more than 5 percent with the ministry’s audit. At 7 percent, Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokee led in terms of discrepancies between the audit results and the figures it submitted.
Together with Chrysler’s SUV, three other imported brands, including Audi’s A4 2.0 TDI, Volkswagen’s Tiguan 2.0 TDI CUV and BMW’s Mini Cooper Countryman, were subject to fines for inflating their fuel mileages last year.
Vice Minister for Trade and Energy Han Jin-hyun reiterated how the tests were conducted, and also the ministry’s stance on the issue at a press conference on Monday.
“We concluded again there was nothing wrong in the test results. The companies that find it difficult to accept the results and the fines can choose to take legal countermeasures,” Han said, stressing that the carmakers have already been notified of the countermeasures they can take.
“We even sent the test results to those four imported carmakers in advance early this year to give them a chance to appeal,’’ Han said.
It is not certain yet whether Chrysler will take the issue to the court.
