VW Australia, Auto Club Escalate Squabble Over Dieselgate

The 8 million-member Australian Automobile Assn. and beleaguered Volkswagen Australia are swapping insults as relations between the two organizations plummet to Ice Age levels.

In the latest edition of the spat following VW’s global emissions-cheating scandal, the AAA again demanded the German automaker explain why Australian customers are less important than those in the U.S.

“Reports that VW has publicly stated it has no intention of providing compensation to Australian VW owners, despite agreeing to pay customers in the U.S. an average of $5,000, is a slap in the face to Australian consumers,” AAA says in a statement.

VW reacts by saying it is refusing to enter any VW or Skoda cars in AAA’s annual “best cars” competition, with VW Australia Managing Director Michael Bartsch saying the awards “lack validity.

“The AAA’s public statements inspire little confidence in its grasp of fundamental issues,” Bartsch says in a statement. “Moreover, the AAA has become hostile not only to our brands but to the motor vehicle industry that employs tens of thousands of Australians.”

He says VW will “willingly submit” its vehicles to judging in awards run by Australia’s major media outlets.

“We enter these with no expectation of winning, but with every confidence in the ability of those organizations to arrive at the best outcomes for the car-buying public,” Bartsch says.

AAA last year re-ran Best Cars after arbitrarily banning VW, Skoda and Audi, he contends, saying AAA had failed to acknowledge none of these vehicles were affected by the global voluntary recall.

AAA CEO Michael Bradley says reports in the media claiming VW had not broken any laws are pre-empting the findings of an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

“The ACCC stated in October last year that using defeat devices is specifically prohibited under the Australian Design Rules. It also indicated it would not hesitate to take action if consumers were exposed to false, misleading or deceptive representations,” Bradley says.

“Regardless of the outcome of the ACCC’s investigation, VW has let down the Australian owners of around 90,000 vehicles. These Australians have faced almost a year of uncertainty in relation to the environmental performance, fuel usage and resale value of their vehicles.”

In a market on pace to set a full-year sales record, VW’s sales were down 7.9% through June at 34,002 units. Skoda sales were down 2.0% at 2,721 units.

Amid growing concerns regarding the accuracy and usefulness of laboratory emissions as a result of the VW scandal, AAA is spending A$500,000 ($381,400) to conduct on-road emissions tests of about 30 vehicles on the Australian market.

The testing of the first 10 vehicles is due to conclude by the end of this month

And to keep VW on the straight and narrow, AAA says it will test a sample of affected VW diesel vehicles “before and after remediation by the company.”