Australia's consumer watchdog is suing Volkswagen for lying to customers. VW has previously admitted to installing defeat devices in diesel vehicles to manipulate emissions during lab tests.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Pleul [M]
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On Thursday, Australia's consumer watchdog announced the latest lawsuit against the German carmaker Volkswagen. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) accuses VW of misleading buyers on standards and emission levels while selling more than 57,000 cars in the country over a five-year period.
Volkswagen Australia marketed cars as "environmentally friendly, clean-burning, low-emission and compliant with stringent European standards when this was not the case under normal driving conditions," the ACCC announced in a statement Thursday. The lawsuit seeks declarations, pecuniary penalties, corrective advertising, findings of fact and costs, according to the statement.
The latest court action adds to an expensive legal fallout for the world's No. 2 carmaker and global leader in automotive sales, which already faces class action lawsuits in Australia and around the world over the admitted emissions fraud. Bannister Law has sought over 100 million Australian dollars (67.5 million euros or $75 million) from the company, as well as replacement costs for more than 90,0000 vehicles.
Last year, Volkswagen Australia recalled 100,000 of its vehicles sold in the country to remove the device, which is rigged to trick smog-testing apparatuses.
"These allegations involve extraordinary conduct of a serious and deliberate nature by a global corporation and its Australian subsidiary misleading consumers and the Australian public," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said on Thursday.
Paying damages around the globe
Based in Lower Saxony, VW settled with US authorities and consumers for $15 billion (13.5 billion euros) in June. In August, VW reached a tentative arrangement to compensate US dealerships.
Despite the scandal surrounding the national carmaker, automotive sales are on the rise in Germany.
mkg/gsw (Reuters, dpa)
10 things you (probably) didn't know about Volkswagen
'Diesel-gate' has everyone talking about the German carmaker. But what do you really know about the company that brought you Das Auto?
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/I. Wagner
The people's car
Did you know that Volkswagen - or the 'people's car' - was Adolf Hitler's brainchild, and that it was developed by Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche? In 1938, Hitler even had built an entire city just to house the factory and its workers. First known as "City of the [Kraft durch Freude] Car at Fallersleben," it was renamed Wolfsburg on May 25, 1945. To this day, the city remains home to VW.
Image: DW/J. Dumalaon
The world's #1 love-bug
From Hitler's wet dream on wheels to the world's favorite love-bug: The original Beetle - known in Germany as 'Der Käfer' - ruled the list of the world's best-selling car for much of the 20th century. By the time production was discontinued in 2003, more than 21.5 million Beetles had been sold worldwide.
Image: DW/E. Schuhmann
Volkswagen's many faces
The company has come a long way since the 1930s. The Volkswagen Group's garage currently fits 12 brands under its roof. Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche and Skoda are among its best-selling subsidiaries, accounting for 37 percent of 2014 sales.
Image: Audi AG
Market domination
Today, Volkswagen really has become the "People's Car": The Group accounts for more than every third car - 36 percent, to be exact - sold in Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
1 out of 10 cars worldwide
Globally, more than 1 out of every 10 cars sold in 2014 was a Volkswagen Group brand. The company sold more than 10.2 million vehicles in that year. 7 out of 10 were sold outside Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Z. Junxiang
US market an uphill battle
The coveted US market has proven to be a real thorn in the eye for the German carmaker. Just 6 percent of its cars - or some 600,000 - were sold abroad. Despite huge investments, its market share there has been stuck at about 2 percent, trailing far behind competitors like GM, Ford and Toyota.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Pole position at stake?
In July, 2015 Volkswagen overtook Toyota as the world's top-selling carmaker. It's also the world's biggest automotive company by revenue. In 2014, it reported sales of 202.5 billion euros. Profit after tax came in at 11.1 billion euros. But after the emissions scandal, analysts warn VW's pole position could be at risk.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Global employer
As of December 31, 2014, the Group employed nearly 600,000 workers, making it one of the biggest employers worldwide. More than a third - some 270,000 - worked at one of its German locations.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Germany's biggest industry
The auto industry is the largest sector in the Germany economy, fuelled by the so-called 'Big Three' - Daimler, BMW and VW. Combined, the industry employs nearly 800,000 people - or almost 2 percent of the German workforce.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Weißbrod
German cars drive exports
The German car industry's total revenue nearly topped 370 billion euros in 2014. It made up about one-fifth of the country's exports, and contributed around 3 percent to German GDP.
