Australia sues Subaru unit over repair data access for independent mechanics
BENGALURU: Australia’s competition regulator said on Friday it had sued Japanese automaker Subaru’s Australian unit, alleging it denied independent car repairers the same access to vehicle repair information as its dealerships.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has filed a lawsuit against Subaru Australia, alleging that the company denied independent car repairers access to repair information on the same terms as its dealerships. According to the regulator, Subaru Australia failed to provide independent repairers with daily or monthly access to software and technical information, as required by the Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Sharing Scheme (MVIS).
Instead, Subaru Australia offered remote assistance and supplied information on an annual basis. The ACCC also claims that Subaru Australia did not provide scheme information to two independent repairers immediately upon request, and that these breaches forced independent repairers to purchase additional hardware to connect the software to their vehicles.
ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward stated that these actions may have prevented consumers from utilizing independent, local, or family-run repairers instead of Subaru's dealerships. The regulator is seeking declarations, penalties, costs, and other orders in the case, though the specific penalties have not been disclosed.
Brief written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
