Officials at the Mercedes-Benz Australia head office referred to car dealers as “baby piglets” in internal communications and threatened and bullied the retailers, a trial court has been told in a $650 million lawsuit over the car maker’s decision to move to a fixed-price agency model.
A judge was wrong to find that Mazda’s treatment of customers with faulty vehicles was appalling but not unconscionable, and nowhere in his ruling is there an explanation for the distinction, the consumer regulator has told an appeals court.
Honda has admitted to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s claims that it mislead the customers of two former authorised dealerships, but is seeking to avoid pecuniary penalties for the “accidental” misconduct.
The law firm whose probe into allegedly defective diesel particulate filters in Toyota cars has led to a verdict worth as much as $2 billion against the car maker has launched a class action investigation into diesel particulate filter issues with two models of Isuzu utes.
The former CEO of fleet manager Orix Australia, who escaped charges of corruption three years ago, will have to take his claims for $1 million in unpaid leave to a hearing after losing a pre-trial bid for judgment.
Ultra Tune is facing contempt of court proceedings for allegedly breaching a judge’s orders and failing to meet the requirements of a court-ordered compliance program, instituted after the company copped a $2 million fine for contravening its disclosure obligations to franchisees.
Toyota has lost a bid to trade mark the shape of its ‘spindle grille’, which features on models in its Lexus division, despite a finding it was used and heavily promoted in Australia for years.
Toyota has lodged an appeal of a judgment that could see it owe around $2 billion to 260,000 car owners for selling vehicles with defective diesel filters for more than they were worth.
Mercedes-Benz is facing a potential class action over a recall affecting over 17,000 vehicles installed with faulty brake boosters.
Ford is seeking an extended hearing of its appeal from a class action judgment in favour of 185,000 vehicle owners over their allegedly defective cars, saying a “significant excavation” of the ruling is now in order.