Volkswagen Australia loses dieselgate appeal
Volkswagen Australia loses dieselgate appeal
April 12, 2021
Dieselgate continues to bite Volkswagen.
The Federal Court has dismissed an appeal by Volkswagen AG against a $125 million penalty for making false representations about compliance with Australian diesel emissions standards.
In dismissing the appeal, the court upheld the penalty and ruled it “was not excessive, let alone manifestly excessive”.
The biggest ever fine for breaches of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) was handed down against the German car-maker in December 2019.
It came after Volkswagen had gone to the Federal Court jointly proposing with the Australian Consumer Commission (ACCC) a $75 million fine. But the penalty was bumped to $125 million and VW appealed in February 2020.
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A damning report released today by the car industry has exposed
just how far behind Australia’s vehicle emissions are compared to world’s best practice – prompting calls for a mandatory Federal Government code and better quality fuels.
In Europe
car makers are fined if they don’t meet stringent vehicle fleet average emissions targets, and the policy has been one of the main drivers of the rapid development of electric cars there – even though customer demand is still relatively low.
However, Australia has no such penalties as there are
no vehicle fleet average emissions targets mandated by the Federal Government.
High CO2 emissions and lax fuel standards must be fixed, says Volkswagen
Volkswagen has used disappointing Australian auto industry CO2 results to hammer the federal government on emissions standards and fuel quality.
Outspoken Volkswagen Group Australia chief Michael Bartsch said the results showed Australia was becoming an “automotive third world” and a “dumping ground for older and less efficient vehicles”.
Bartsch is deputy chair of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), which came up with the voluntary CO2 reduction plan in 2020 in the absence of federal government action.
Bartsch called for a mandatory CO2 target and for better unleaded petrol quality with lower sulphur content, both of which he says would encourage new drivetrain tech with lower or zero emissions to come to Australia.
A damning report released today by the car industry has exposed just how far behind Australia’s vehicle emissions are compared to world’s best practice –
prompting calls for a mandatory Federal Government code and better quality fuels.
In Europe car makers are fined if they don’t meet stringent vehicle fleet average emissions targets, and the policy has been one of the main drivers of the rapid development of electric cars there – even though customer demand is still relatively low.
However, Australia has no such penalties as there are no vehicle fleet average emissions targets mandated by the Federal Government.
Automotive disruption has been disrupted – but are marketers prepared for what’s ahead?
The Australian automotive industry has been one of the most disrupted by the pandemic. For manufacturers, it s generally been in a positive sense, with sales on the up. But can the momentum continue in a post-pandemic world? Mumbrella s Damian Francis asks the industry experts.
April 7, 2021 9:22
Prior to the pandemic, Australia’s automotive market was in a particularly interesting position. A major crossroad that was likely to send the industry in a completely different direction.
While Mumbrella was running the Automotive Marketing Summit in Sydney and Melbourne, we were able to document this crossroad in a bit more detail. There were a range of speakers involved, from major manufacturers, car share companies, mobility brands, various businesses in and around the growing EV trend and more who were jockeying for relevance and position in real life and on our conference programs.