SEOUL, March 10 (Reuters) - South Korea's antitrust regulator said on Tuesday it has fined Mercedes-Benz 11.2 billion won ($7.61 million) for misleading consumers about the battery suppliers used in
South Korea fines Mercedes $7.6 million over misleading EV battery information
Mercedes-Benz Fined for Misleading Electric Vehicle Battery Information
SEOUL, March 10 (Reuters) - South Korea's antitrust regulator said on Tuesday it has fined Mercedes-Benz 11.2 billion won ($7.61 million) for misrepresenting the battery suppliers in its electric vehicles.
Details of the Misrepresentation
The Korea Fair Trade Commission said Mercedes-Benz promoted its EQE and EQS models as using premium cells from CATL, the world’s largest EV battery maker, while concealing that some vehicles instead carried Farasis Energy batteries - information absent from dealer guides and marketing material.
Market Position of Battery Suppliers
CATL held a 39% share of the global EV battery market in 2025, while Farasis Energy did not rank among the world's top 10 battery suppliers, according to industry tracker SNE Research.
Mercedes-Benz Response
"We respect the decision made at the plenary session at KFTC; however, we firmly disagree with the Commission's final decision," Mercedes-Benz Korea said in a statement.
The company added that it would "take necessary legal measures, including an administrative lawsuit," and said it had "accurately conveyed true and correct information to both the media and our customers."
Investigation and Regulatory Actions
Investigation Triggered by EV Fire
INVESTIGATION TRIGGERED BY EV FIRE
The FTC said it launched an investigation after it found battery cells in a Mercedes EV involved in an August 2024 fire at an underground parking lot in Incheon were made by Farasis.
Sales and Penalty Details
About 3,000 vehicles containing Farasis battery cells were sold between June 2023 and August 2024, with total sales amounting to roughly 281 billion won, the FTC said.
The regulator's 11.2 billion won fine, equivalent to about 4% of the related sales, was the maximum penalty allowed under the law for such unfair practices, it said.
Responsibility and Legal Actions
An FTC official said Mercedes' German headquarters and its Korean unit would jointly pay the fine.
The regulator said it would also refer both Mercedes headquarters in Germany and the Korean unit to prosecutors, saying the two were involved directly or indirectly in creating and distributing the sales guidelines.
($1 = 1,471.6000 won)
(Reporting by Heekyong YangEditing by Ed Davies and Louise Heavens)
