As the government announced that it would push for punitive damages and consumer class action lawsuits following the recent BMW fire, the People’s Solidarity for Participation Democracy (PSPD) immediately urged the implementation of the system.
The PSPD claimed on August 13th that it is very urgent to introduce a class action lawsuit system to prevent the illegal activities of BMW and effectively prevent damages.
In addition, the PSPD stated that the government should actively make policy decisions, and the National Assembly should start the related legislation as soon as possible.
“More than 30 BMW cars that were on the road this year caught fire right after being driven; in August alone, there were eight cars that caught fire. BMW did not take any action when similar incidents happened, but when the government launched an investigation, it belatedly acknowledged the defect and decided to recall 100,000 units,” said the PSPD.
In particular, BMW showed an improper attitude by failing to comply with government’s request for technical data, and the recall was only a temporary replacement of problematic parts, raising concerns over the recurrence of the accident.
The PSPD pointed out that there is insufficient punitive damages and class action lawsuits against the backlash of BMW in responding to lingering and corruption.
In the United States and Germany, where similar accidents occurred, BMW pre-emptively recalled 1.3 million units. The recall scale is as large as 20% of all BMW vehicles, but these countries are subject to punitive damages or class action lawsuits that require the company to pay for astronomical damages.
However, the PSPD pointed out that in Korea, which does not have strong sanction plans, companies are not actively seeking to protect consumers’ rights because even if a car is found to be defective, the company does not pay that much.
