Diesel fraud suspected: Hyundai and Kia searches in Offenbach and Frankfurt hessenschau.de

Auto manufacturers Hyundai and Kia are now also suspected of installing illegal defeat devices in diesel models. The Public Prosecutor’s Office moved to their headquarters in Germany in Offenbach and Frankfurt.

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In the scandal surrounding illegal defeat devices in diesel cars, Korean manufacturers Hyundai and Kia are now also under concrete suspicion of fraud. To secure evidence, the Frankfurt prosecutor’s office searched the two companies’ offices at their German headquarters in Offenbacher Kaiserlei (Hyundai) and at the Frankfurt (Kia) trade fair on Tuesday.

There was also a raid on auto supplier BorgWarner, the attorney general announced. About 180 investigators participated, and eight buildings were searched in Germany and Luxembourg. The European Union authority Eurojust coordinated the work.

Above all, planning documents, contact data and software must be secured. A spokesman for Hyundai’s Offenbach headquarters said on Tuesday the investigation was fully supported.

It’s about 210,000 diesel cars

More than 210,000 diesel cars will be registered by 2020. According to the Frankfurt prosecutor’s office, all Hyundai and Kia models are affected with 1.1, 1.4, 1.6, 1.7, 2.0 and 2.2 liter diesel engines. The engine control software is said to come from Bosch and former supplier Delphi, which has been incorporated into the BorgWarner group.

According to investigators, engine control is said to have ensured that emissions control is turned off or restricted in many everyday situations. As a result, the cars would not have met the relevant emissions standards for Euro 5 and Euro 6 approval, and the companies would have deceived their customers.

Since 2015, prosecutors have been investigating allegations of fraud against auto manufacturers due to illegal defeat devices. First, the Volkswagen Group acknowledged this cheating program. Many other manufacturers and suppliers have been investigated or are being investigated for this reason. Recently, there was a raid due to possible defeat devices at Suzuki in Benchem (Bergstraße) and at the parent company Opel Stellantis.