Australian watchdog sues Honda unit for misleading claims

Australia’s competition watchdog has taken Honda Motor’s local unit to court as of Wednesday.

It alleged the Japanese automaker falsely claimed to its customers that two of its dealerships had stopped servicing Honda automobiles.

Between January and June 2021, Honda Australia informed consumers of Brighton Automotive (Astoria) in Victoria and Tynan Motors in New South Wales that the dealerships would not provide service to Honda vehicles, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged.

“The ACCC alleges that in emails, text messages and phone conversations, Honda told Astoria and Tynan customers that these businesses had closed and directed consumers to contact a Honda dealership or Honda Service Centre to book their next service,” the watchdog said.

But the dealerships continued to service vehicles, along with Honda cars and operate independently after putting an end to the agreements with Honda Australia in January 2021 after a restructuring of the automaker’s unit in May 2019, the ACCC said.

The regulator alleged the automaker of causing “harm” to the business of Astoria and Tynan by falsely stating they had shut or would close, which resulted in lower customer footfall, and sought a penalty against it in the court.

Honda Australia has not commented on the issue yet.