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German persecutors have raided the offices of South Korean auto group Hyundai-Kia and a supplier over alleged diesel-emissions cheating affecting more than 210,000 vehicles.
Investigators searched eight locations in Germany and Luxembourg, Frankfurt prosecutors said in a statement sent to AFP Wednesday.
Working together with authorities in Luxembourg, the raids were aimed at securing “communications, software and planning documents” in relation to the emissions-cheating accusations.
Specifically, the Asian motor group is said to have sold “more than 210,000 diesel vehicles up to 2020” installed with “defeat devices” that made the vehicles appear less polluting than they actually were.
The engine control software “came from Bosch and the then supplier Delphi”, which now belongs to the BorgWarner group, whose offices were also raided.
Together, the targeted groups were suspected of “fraud and air pollution, as well as abetting” these offences.
The probe is the latest fallout from the “dieselgate” scandal that erupted in 2015 when German automaker Volkswagen admitted tampering with millions of diesel vehicles to dupe emissions tests.
The scandal has since ensnared several top European carmakers, including Daimler, Fiat and Renault. Prosecutors have also targeted car part suppliers Bosch and Continental over their alleged roles in the development of the cheating software.
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