The Korean Transportation Ministry has filed a complaint against the Korean unit of German carmaker Mercedes-Benz with the prosecution on charges of having installed automatic transmissions without proper authentication procedures, officials said Tuesday.

The ministry said it filed a complaint with the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office against Mercedes-Benz Korea’s chief Dimitris Psillakis, accusing him of violating the automobile management act and clean air conservation act. 


The carmaker failed to go through authentication procedures when it replaced existing 7-speed automatic transmission with 9-speed automatic transmission for its S350 series sold in December, according to officials. They noted that 98 cars were sold without going through the procedures.

“After finding out that some S350 diesel models were sold without proper authentication procedures, we voluntarily reported it to the ministry,” the German automaker said.

“We respect the government’s decision and will actively cooperate for the investigation.”

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)