Subaru Australia taken to court by the ACCC

Subaru Australia is facing court action from the national consumer watchdog after allegedly withholding vehicle repair information from independent workshops.

In an Australian first, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched Federal Court proceedings against Subaru, alleging it failed to provide independent repairers with the same software and technical data available to its own dealers.

“This is the first court proceeding the ACCC has taken for alleged breaches of the service and repair information sharing scheme,” ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward said in a statement.

“We allege Subaru Australia failed to comply with the Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Sharing Scheme (MVIS), which is designed to promote competition between Australian car repairers.

“As a result, consumers may have been unable to use an independent, local or family-run repairer rather than using Subaru’s dealerships.”

The ACCC said it's seeking penalties and costs as part of the court action.

CarExpert has approached Subaru Australia, whose best-selling models are the Forester SUV, Crosstrek small SUV and Outback wagon, for comment on the case.

The MVIS was introduced in July 2022 under the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Sharing Scheme) Act as part of measures giving consumers a ‘right to repair’ their vehicles.

“The MVIS was designed to promote competition by enabling consumers to go to a local mechanic of their choice. To make that possible, independent mechanics need to be given fair and equal access to motor vehicle service and repair information so that they could compete on a level playing field with dealerships,” Mr Woodward said.

The alleged breaches by Subaru took place between July 1, 2022 and August 31, 2024.

The ACCC will allege Subaru Australia contravened the MVIS by “failing to offer independent repairers the same Scheme Information it gave to Subaru Australia dealerships or only providing access via remote assistance”.

It will also allege Subaru required “independent repairers to also buy certain hardware to connect the software to the vehicle”, and offered to supply Scheme Information only on an annual basis when it was required to offer access on a daily or monthly basis, or for any period nominated by an Australian repairer.

Finally, the ACCC alleges Subaru failed to provide Scheme Information to two independent repairers immediately upon request, or at all.

While this marks the first time the ACCC has commenced Federal Court proceedings over a breach of the MVIS, it's not the first time an auto brand has come under the watchdog's microscope for allegedly contravening the scheme.

In September 2024, the ACCC issued its first infringement notice for a breach of the scheme to Honda Australia, which paid an $18,780 penalty for allegedly not making its Honda Diagnostic System Software suite available via daily or monthly subscriptions.

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