Watchdog meets with VW Australia

Sims said the ACCC would be enforcing Australian Consumer Law ( ACL) in its investigation.

However, VW is still scrambling to work out if any cars sold here under its brand had the ill-fated Type EA 189 engines.

Calling it a top priority examination, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims announced use of “defeat devices” broken needed retreat measures underneath Australian Consumer Law.

The ACCC said it would seek marketing materials from Volkswagen and would not hesitate to take action if consumers were exposed to false, misleading or deceptive representations.

About $US25 billion has since been wiped from Volkswagen’s market value, as a growing list of countries demand if the carmaker also cheated the system in their jurisdictions.

Mr Sims said he was “very concerned about the potential consumer and competition detriment” from Volkswagen’s behaviour.

“Cars are a big purchasing decision and claims that relate to environmental benefits or fuel efficiency can influence consumer choice”. Since news of the scandal broke nearly a fortnight ago, Volkswagen Australia has been unable to say whether any vehicles in Australia are fitted with the dodgy software.

He noted that the maximum penalty for a corporation caught breaching the ACL is A$1.1 million for each and every breach.

“We usually like to do these things voluntarily”, he said, “but if we don’t get a few answers soon we might well be making compulsory requests”.

Volkswagen Australia and Audi Australia are yet to clarify how Australian vehicles are affected by the use by VW of pollution-cheating software in millions of diesel cars around the world.

“VW and Audi have committed to update the public on Australian-sold vehicles as more detailed information is provided from their global headquarters”, government minister Paul Fletcher said after meeting with representatives of the German automakers and domestic regulators on Friday. “There’s a whole lot our team don’t know and we’re engaging this along with a pretty register mind”, he…

Volkswagen Australia has said it is still awaiting guidance from its head office on the matter.