[Anchor]

As we previously reported, Mercedes-Benz Korea used Chinese-made batteries subject to recall history due to fire risks in its vehicles and concealed this fact. Now, a decision has been issued ordering the company to compensate these consumers 4 million won per person.

Reporter Jung Hye-jin has the details.

[Reporter]

Two years ago, in an underground parking lot of an apartment complex in Incheon.

Smoke began pouring from a vehicle, followed by an explosion and a fire.

This fire burned or scorched approximately 950 vehicles.

The vehicle that caught fire at the time was a Mercedes EQE 350+ electric vehicle model that was being charged.

Mercedes electric vehicle owners had to suffer from anxiety over explosions and harsh public scrutiny.

[Mercedes Electric Vehicle Owner: What if an explosion suddenly happens while it's parked? When parking, I always park far away from other vehicles....]

Mercedes originally promoted the vehicles as being equipped with products from CATL, the world's number one electric vehicle battery manufacturer.

However, investigation results revealed that across five models, the company used batteries from Farasis, a Chinese company with a history of recalls due to fire risks, without informing consumers.

[Hwang Won-chul, Standing Commissioner at the Korea Fair Trade Commission (March): (We judged that) it misled consumers into believing that its products were significantly superior to what they actually were, which constitutes "unfair customer inducement by fraudulent means."] (Photo: Yonhap News)

After receiving a penalty surcharge of approximately 11.2 billion won from the Korea Fair Trade Commission last March, the Korea Consumer Dispute Mediation Committee has also ruled that Mercedes must compensate consumers.

The committee decided that Mercedes must pay 4 million won per person—equivalent to 4 percent of the vehicle's price—to the 142 vehicle owners who applied for class-action dispute mediation, totaling approximately 560 million won.

As Mercedes-Benz Korea previously objected to the Fair Trade Commission's decision, the possibility of a legal battle remains.

[Video Editing: Yoon Tae-ho]