Seoul - A group of 101 South Korean owners of Audi cars brought a class action against manufacturer Volkswagen, in the wake of revelations it cheated US emissions tests, a news report said Thursday.
It was the first time Audi drivers have filed their own group lawsuit in South Korea in the case, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Several Audi models are among the 11 million cars made by Volkswagen that the company admitted used special software to detect emissions tests and modify the engine settings to run more cleanly, before switching back again for better power and efficiency on the road.
More lawsuits
Audi plaintiffs said: "If Volkswagen Group did not cheat on its emission tests, consumers would not have paid a large sum of money to buy the cars that failed to pass the tests."
A total of 266 owners of cars made by Volkswagen have brought cases against the company and its local dealers in South Korea, where around 120 000 cars are thought to be affected, since the scandal broke, the report said.
More than two dozen similar lawsuits have been filed against Volkswagen in the US, with damages expected to run into billions of dollars, according to the Wall Street Journal.