Nissan Qashqai (eans/Bigstock.com)

South Korea has ruled that Nissan used so-called defeat devices in its Qashqai vehicle in order to cheat emissions tests.

All of Nissan's Qashqais are built in the firm's Sunderland plant. The fine brings the on-going emission-rigging scandal closer to British shores.

South Korea said it would fine Nissan 330m KRW (£195,000) and that it would recall more than 800 Qashqais sold in the country.

However, EU regulators have stated that they have not found any issues with Nissan’s vehicles regarding emissions cheating devices.

Responding to the decision by South Korean regulators, Nissan said: "Although the conclusions reached by the Korean authorities are inconsistent with those of other regulators, Nissan will carefully assess and consider appropriate next steps.

“Nissan is committed to upholding the law and meeting or exceeding regulations in every market where we operate. We are continuing to work with the Korean authorities.”

The South Korean fine follows months of regulatory investigations into how emissions data may have been manipulated by car makers. In September 2015 Volkswagen was accused by the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) of using defeat devices in some of its models, resulting in the recall of more than 11m vehicles.

The VW share price plummeted 50 per cent on the news, but has seen modest gains since.

Despite the fact EU regulators have found no issues with Nissan’s emissions data, the action taken by South Korean regulators could be damaging for Nissan and for its UK plant, which recently celebrated the 500,000th Qashqai to roll off its lines.

In 2015 Jaguar Land Rover overtook Nissan as the UK's largest car maker.