Autoblog

For those who haven't heard, NASCAR's season-opening Daytona 500 race this weekend has been marred by controversy from the rookie Toyota camp. On Sunday, Michael Waltrip had his No. 55 Toyota confiscated by NASCAR officials after inspectors found an odorless, Vaseline-like substance in the car's engine. Later in the week, NASCAR handed down punishment to Michael Waltrip Racing, which included the ejection of team vice president of competition Bobby Kennedy and Crew Chief David Hyder from the garage at Daytona. Hyder was also fined $100,000, the largest fine ever handed down by NASCAR. Waltrip himself was penalized with a loss of 100 drivers points and his qualifying time from pole day on Feb. 11th was thrown out. Elizabeth Waltrip, Michael's wife and the official owner of his car, was also docked 100 owners points.

Thanks for the tip, John!

[Source: ESPN.com]

Back in the summer of 2005 the headlines of international magazines and newspapers were peppered with a scandal that included bribery, sex, and corruption. No, Dallas wasn't making a comeback, it was automotive giant VW and the scandal involved 2.5 million dollars in payoffs to VW Works' Council Chief Klaus Volkert and another $500k to Volkert's Brazilian lover. Those payments were used between 1994 and 2005 to bankroll sexcapades and lavish trips to Brazil and Lisbon.

In the first of four trials linked to the elaborate scandal, former Chief of Personnel Peter Hartz has confessed to paying the bribes and will receive a suspended two year sentence and a $750,000 fine. Hartz insists he acted alone in arranging the trips, yet the VW management trials will continue later this year. We're sure VW executives can't wait for all of this negative press to end. Maybe a trip to South America will help to ease the pain. We kid.

[Source: Business Week]

Hyundai Motor Co. chair Chung Mong-koo is looking to post bail. The Korean auto executive, currently incarcerated on embezzlement charges, appealed to the Seoul District Court on Friday to release him on bond.

Interestingly, a petition has been circulating among the Korean auto industry for the release of Chung Mong-koo's son, Chung Enui-Sun, who has also been jailed. The latter is  head of sister-company Kia, and supporters of the petition are pleading for his temporary release, out of fear that a prolonged incarceration will greatly damage the country's auto industry.

Word on Chung Mong-koo's bail status is expected to take around a week.

[Sources: The Associated Press via BayNews9; Korea Herald]

An ex-government official in the growing Hyundai scandal was found dead Sunday of an apparent suicide. Park Seok-an, under suspicion for bribery in the Korean automaker corruption case was found dead in a lake-he had been slated to appear in the prosecutor's office the same morning, having already been questioned five times on suspicion of taking bribes in exchange for business favors while he was a director-general at a city hall housing division.

A combination will/suicide note alluding to the investigation was found at his home in Seoul.

[Sources: The Korea Herald; Wikimedia.org]

 

We'll grant you that most car dealers out there are good men and women, just trying to make a living. But as with any profession, the world of auto sales has a few questionable characters as well.  Witness 'Action Motors' of Prince George, British Columbia, and its oddball advertising technique that directly targets victims of parochial school sexual/physical abuse expecting compensation checks.

The Canadian dealer published ads in the Stuart Nechako Advertiser with special messages for student victims of the Lejac Residential School, a Roman Catholic institution operated between the 1920's and 1970's  that has since been rocked by abuse scandals. Under terms of a legal settlement nearly finalized, abused students will be entitled to a $10,000 payout, along with $3,000 payments for each year attended.

In the advertisement, Action Motors explicitly encourages "recipients of Lejac settlements" to "buy now and pay later."

Understandably, a few people are a bit incensed. For his part, Action Motors owner Larry Jardine says that his intentions were good, and that he's actually entertained some calls wanting to take him up on his unorthodox offer, but that isn't sitting well with everyone in the community.

What do you think? Speak your mind in 'Comments.'

[Source: CBC News, Action Motors]

As part of an act of contrition for the bribery scandal rocking Hyundai Motor Group, the company is donating $1.05 billion dollars to charity. The word came Wednesday as Hyundai vice chairman Lee Jeon-kap issued a formal apology for the corporate malfeasance currently under investigation.

The donation will come in the form of 22.5 million shares of stock in Hyundai subsidiary Glovis, owned by Chung Mong-koo (HMG's chair) and son, Chung Eui-sun, president of Kia Motors. The shares are said to be valued at over $1 billion dollars.

Apparently, this type of corporate mea culpa is accepted practice for Korean business scandals, as earlier this year, conglomerate Samsung expressed regret over its own corruption charges with a nearly $850 million dollar donation.

Despite the pledges, neither Hyundai nor Samsung has named the beneficiary of their largesse, let alone transferred any monies.

[Sources: JoonAng Daily; Autodrom.lu]

South Korean officials descended upon Hyundai's headquarters, carting off around 100 boxes of data from the companies southern Seoul offices. The move came as the latest development in a corruption probe surrounding a prominent business lobbyist.

The investigation centers around the arrest of Kim Jae-Rok, a business consultant accused of bribing officials and politicians, along with arranging unlawful bank loans while coordinating mergers and takeovers. In this case, the search and seizure at Hyundai's offices stem from the Hyundai-Kia merger back eight years ago.

[Source: AFP via TurkishPress.com]