Australia sues Audi, Volkswagen over emission claims

ANKARA
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has started proceedings in the Federal Court against Audi and Volkswagen over emission claims between 2011 and 2015, the Commission announced on Wednesday.

The ACCC is suing the German company Audi Aktiengesellschaft (Audi AG), its Australian subsidiary Audi Australia Pty Ltd (Audi Australia), and their owner, German company Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (VWAG), according to the statement.

The watchdog alleges that Audi AG and Audi Australia engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct, made false or misleading representations and engaged in conduct liable to mislead the public in relation to certain diesel vehicle emission claims, and that VWAG was knowingly involved in this conduct.

Audi Australia has supplied more than 12,000 affected vehicles to Australian consumers.

“Consumers expect that there is some relationship between the performance of the car as set out in the sales brochure and their day to day on-road use," Rod Sims, ACCC chairman was quoted as saying.

"We allege that the installation of software which allows the vehicle to meet testing standards but then causes the vehicles to operate differently on the road, and associated representations about the vehicle and its performance, breach the Australian Consumer Law,” Sims said.

The Commission is seeking declarations, pecuniary penalties, corrective advertising, orders relating to the future use of findings of fact and costs.

The watchdog also added that it would not pursue further action against Volkswagen regarding Skoda-branded vehicles which are owned by Volkswagen in Australia, taking into account the lower volume of sales in the country.