Mathias Vaitl, CEO and president of Mercedes-Benz Korea Ltd., on Wednesday plans to meet with residents of an apartment complex in Incheon, where a fire that started from a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle destroyed over 100 cars, according to sources.

The sources said that Vaitl plans to meet with residents of the apartment in Cheongna in Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul, in the evening to discuss the company’s measures regarding the fire that spontaneously erupted from a parked Mercedes-Benz EQE model on Aug. 1.

The fire gutted an entire parking garage and damaged over 100 vehicles.

According to sources, a notice of the meeting was posted on an online community for residents. It will mark Vaitl’s first public appearance since the incident that stoked a nationwide EV safety scare.

The accident ended up forcing hundreds of residents to move to temporary shelters due to a power and water supply outage at the complex.

Vaitl was on a trip to Germany when the incident occurred and returned to South Korea
on Monday.

The company said in a message sent to Yonhap News Agency last week that Vaitl remained “in constant and direct contact with all relevant parties to support the investigation of the incident” while staying overseas.

When the CEO was in Germany, several senior company officials held a meeting with representatives of the residents Friday and offered to donate 4.5 billion won (US$3.3 million) as part of relief support efforts.

Source: Yonhap News Agency