ACCC to investigate new-car retailing

Australia's peak consumer advocate has set its sights on retailers of new cars in the latest move to rein in dodgy practices.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced last week that it planned to study the retail new-car industry, due to a series of scandals that have beset the industry in recent times. These include fuel economy/emissions issues and service data sharing, and the study will also touch on issues like recalls and defects.

"A new car is a significant purchase for consumers and more than one million new cars are sold in Australia each year. Consumer issues arising in relation to new car retailing is a priority area for the ACCC," Chairman Rod Sims was quoted saying in a press release.

"The ACCC and other Australian Consumer Law agencies continue to receive a high volume of complaints from consumers about defects with vehicles, covering a broad spectrum of manufacturers. These complaints reveal that many consumers are having difficulty enforcing their consumer guarantee rights, which are in addition to the warranties provided by manufacturers.

"Following the Fiat Chrysler Australia [Jeep] investigation, the ACCC is considering concerns about compliance with the consumer guarantee provisions in the motor vehicle industry more generally, and is looking at complaints and practices of specific brands," Mr Sims said.

In addition to FCA Australia, other companies under the watchful eye of the ACCC have included Volkswagen and Kia. The announcement by the ACCC has received the strong approval of the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association, which has enlisted the aid of the ACCC to bring the car companies to heel.

"AAAA welcomes this ACCC market study," said the Association's Executive Director, Stuart Charity.

"The scope and processes planned for this work will produce important findings to help guide the industry and protect consumer rights.

"The AAAA looks forward to contributing to this work to ensure that Australian consumers drive safe and reliable vehicles – and that they benefit from an open, fair and competitive automotive market place."

The ACCC will reveal more about the scope of the study later in the year. Written submissions are invited and the ACCC will release a draft report of the findings during the first quarter of 2017.