AUDI has been hit by the same federal court action as its parent Volkswagen after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged that the German car maker and its Australian distributor made false declarations about the emission levels of its products.

The action, which affects 12,000 Audi owners in Australia, is identical to that made by the ACCC against Volkswagen and – together with independent class actions made by owners – is the subject of current federal court proceedings initiated on September 1, 2016.

The ACCC said its action against Audi are additional to the Volkswagen proceedings however relate to the same alleged conduct of vehicle emissions of nitrogen oxides.

It comes despite Audi and Volkswagen announcing a recall in December 2016 to fix affected vehicles. The vehicles, all with diesel engines, include the numerical models from A1 to A6, plus the Q3 and Q5 SUVs and TT sports coupe.

On another front, the ACCC ignored its own concern for nitrogen oxide emission levels by stating that it will not pursue action over associate company Skoda – despite being fitted with the same engines – because of Skoda’s low sales volume.

A perplexed Audi Australia – which has by its own decision already organised a fix for 10,000 of its vehicles – later replied to the ACCC statement, saying the action “does not provide any practical benefits to consumers”.

“The approved technical measures for the vast majority of cars affected by the voluntary recall are either already available or are imminent, as was the case when the commission commenced proceedings against Volkswagen Group Australia in August 2016,” Audi said.

“Audi Australia can confirm that approval has been received from the federal government for the vast majority of Audi vehicles affected by the voluntary recall, including Audi A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, TT, Q3 and some Q5 models.

“The company also expects the technical measures for the remaining affected Audi Q5 models will be available shortly.

“The vehicles have been comprehensively tested and proven to conform to all relevant Australian standards as a condition of federal government approval.”

Audi said customers with an affected vehicle should have the voluntary recall service updates installed. The update takes 45 minutes and is free.

“The company has already contacted close to 10,000 owners of affected vehicles for which approved technical measures are available to arrange an appointment with their dealer.”

In a statement issued this morning, the ACCC said it alleges that between 2011 and 2015:

• Audi AG engaged in misleading conduct by not disclosing the existence and operation of ‘defeat’ software in certain Audi branded vehicles. The software caused the vehicles to produce lower nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions when subject to test conditions in a laboratory than during normal on-road driving conditions.
• Both Audi AG and Audi Australia engaged in misleading conduct by representing that the vehicles complied with all applicable regulatory requirements for road vehicles in Australia when, because of the defeat software, that was not the case.
• Using information provided by Audi AG, Audi Australia marketed the vehicles in Australia as being environmentally friendly, producing low emissions and complying with stringent European standards when this was not the case under normal driving conditions.
• VWAG designed and supplied the engines and defeat software to Audi AG for installation in the affected vehicles.

In announcing the action, ACCC chairman Rod Sims said: “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”.

“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.”

Audi Australia was approached for further comment but referred to its statement.

By Neil Dowling