Volkswagen to recall approximately 90,000 cars in Australia across VW, Audi and Skoda brands
VOLKSWAGEN will “almost certainly” be the subject of a class action lawsuit in Australia after the recall of more than 90,000 cars.
VOLKSWAGEN will “almost certainly” be the subject of a class action lawsuit in Australia, following confirmation of the recall of more than 90,000 cars with dodgy diesel engines, a leading law firm has claimed.
And almost 700 disgruntled owners have already expressed an interest in taking action.
Maurice Blackburn class actions principal Damian Scattini says the recall announcement does not address the “compensation concerns” for the 90,000-plus owners of diesel Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda cars made between 2008 and 2015 with software that cheats emissions tests.
“Today’s announcement reveals that the scope of people affected in Australia is much larger than was first thought, and in our view a class action is now most likely,” said Mr Scattini.
The class action specialist said announcing the recall was “a first step” but “there is still no information about how Volkswagen Australia intends to compensate people for what will potentially be thousands of dollars of losses (in value) for these vehicles, or for the time they’ll have to spend without access to their vehicles during the recall.”
Reports out of Europe indicate that the recalls will start there in January and may take until the end of 2016 to complete. VW and Audi Australia are yet to announce when their recalls will start.
Volkswagen and Audi executives in Europe were due to meet with German authorities to explain what technical solutions were being suggested to fix the 11 million cars globally.
Some cars may require mechanical changes, while others may need a relatively simple reprogramming of the diesel engine’s computer.
“It beggars belief that VW got itself into this situation in the first place but it adds insult to injury for the company not to address the issue of compensation to vehicle owners,” said Mr Scattini.
The law firm says it already has close to 700 people Volkswagen and Audi owners in Australia register their interest in a potential class action.
“The class actions mechanism is the best chance people have of holding companies that have caused mass wrongdoing to account, and we urge anyone affected by this recall to register their interest ... as soon as possible,” said Mr Scattini.
Maurice Blackburn says it is Australia’s leading class action law firm, and the only one to secure class action recoveries in excess of $100 million.
Earlier, Volkswagen confirmed it will recall more than 90,000 cars in Australia across the VW, Audi and Skoda brands to fix software designed to cheat diesel emissions tests.
There are 54,745 VW passenger cars, 17,256 VW vans and utes, 14,028 Audis and 5148 Skoda cars made from 2009 to 2015 that will be caught up in the recall.
The troubled German car maker is yet to disclose what technical changes will be made, but customers will be contacted by mail once the fix is ready.
A statement from VW Australia said customers who would like to find out if their vehicle is affected can enter their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the relevant brand websites: www.volkswagen.com.au, www.audi.com.au, www.skoda.com.au and www.volkswagen-commercial.com.au.
In an unprecedented move, Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda were forced to stop the sale of certain new diesel models on Saturday after meeting with Federal Government authorities in Canberra on Friday.
The sales ban and subsequent recall in Australia follows similar action in the US and Europe; more than 11 million cars are affected globally.
Aside from billions of dollars in fines in the US and Europe, Volkswagen is also facing hefty fines from Australian authorities.
VW can be fined $1.1 million for each misleading claim on each model — the fuel economy number and the emissions figure would count as two infringements — opening the company up to at least $22 million in fines for false claims alone.
Then it is liable for fines of $108,000 per car sold because they were approved for use on Australian roads on the basis of false documents.
These fines could amount into the billions of dollars if the government chooses to pursue the car maker.
Volkswagen says customers can contact its call centre on 1800 607 822, Skoda owners can call 1800 607 540 and Audi drivers have been asked to call 1800 50 AUDI (2834).
“Until a technical solution is made available from the head office of Volkswagen AG, customers do not need to take any further action,” the company says.
News Corp Australia understands a fix is not expected for months while VW engineers in Germany try to find a solution that does not dramatically diminish the performance of the affected cars.
“We understand the disappointment and frustration felt by our customers, dealers and partners in Australia and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause,” said Volkswagen Group Australia’s managing director, John White.
“It is important for customers to note that all affected vehicles remain technically safe and drivable and that we will contact them in time to advise what the next steps are,” said Mr White.
However it is likely the cars will have less power and higher maintenance costs once the correct software is fitted.
The list of affected diesel cars includes:
Volkswagen
Golf (2009-2013)
Polo (2009-2014)
Jetta (2010-2015)
Passat CC (2008-2012)
Volkswagen CC (2011-2015)
Passat (2008-2015)
Eos (2008-2014)
Tiguan (2008-2015)
Caddy (2010-2015)
Amarok (2011-2012)
Audi (certain versions of the following models)
A1 (current generation)
A3 (previous generation)
A4 (current generation)
A5 (current generation)
A6 (current generation)
Q5 (current generation 2.0 TDI)
TT (previous generation)
Skoda
Octavia (2009-2013)
Yeti (2011-2015)
Superb (2009-2015)
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