March 29, 2019 12:03
BMW chief marketing officer Pieter Nota on Thursday apologized for last year's series of spontaneous engine fires in Korea that cost the German automaker a substantial chunk of market share here.
Nota was speaking in a damage limitation press conference at the Seoul Motor Show in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. "We are truly sorry for the concern and inconvenience that some of our vehicles have recently caused," he said.
Some 52 BMWs caught fire due to faulty exhaust gas recirculation valves last year.
Nota claimed the carmaker is doing everything it can "to make things right and cooperating closely with Korean authorities... We are deeply committed to do everything we can to regain the trust of our customers in Korea."
He also promised to strengthen cooperation with Korean companies. BMW will increase its purchase of components from Korean suppliers by 55 percent by 2020, he pledged.
Nota described Korea as the most innovative country in the future auto market and said BMW will intensify cooperation "especially in the fields of e-mobility and automated driving."
BMW is already using Samsung SDI batteries for its electric vehicles and has also signed contracts with Korean telecoms for the development of 5G network technology.
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