South Korea fines Mercedes $7.6 mln over misleading EV battery information

SEOUL, March 10 (Reuters) - South Korea's antitrust regulator said on Tuesday it has fined Mercedes-Benz MBGn.DE 11.2 billion won ($7.61 million) for misleading consumers about the battery suppliers used in some of its electric vehicles.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Mercedes-Benz distributed sales guidelines to dealers suggesting that all EQE and EQS EVs were equipped with battery cells made by China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) 300750.SZ, the world’s largest battery maker.

Some Mercedes EV models, however, were fitted with battery cells supplied by China's Farasis Energy 688567.SS, information that was omitted from the internal sales guide and concealed from dealers and consumers, the FTC said in a statement.

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.

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 was made by Farasis.

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.

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)