Australia sues Subaru unit over repair data access for independent mechanics

SUBARU

21/08/2026 01:02

Aug 21 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator said on Friday it had sued Japanese automaker Subaru's 7270.T Australian unit, alleging it denied independent car repairers the same access to vehicle repair information as its dealerships.

Here are more details:
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)alleges that between July 2022 and August 2024, Subaru Australia, the sole importer and distributor of Subaru vehicles in the country, failed to offer independent repairers the same access to software and technical information as its dealerships.
Subaru Australia did not immediately respond to Reuters request for a comment. 
The regulator said Subaru offered these repairers access only through remote assistance and supplied information on an annual basis instead of the required daily or monthly options, and failed to provide scheme information to two independent repairers immediately upon request.
The failures were in breach of the Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Sharing Scheme (MVIS), the regulator added, marking its first court action for an alleged breach of the scheme.
The MVIS is a mandatory scheme that requires motor vehicle service and repair information to be made available for purchase by all Australian repairers at a price not exceeding its fair market value.
The regulator also said these breaches forced independent repairers to buy certain hardware to connect the software to the vehicles.
"Consumers may have been unable to use an independent, local or family-run repairer rather than using Subaru's dealerships," ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward said.
The ACCC said it was seeking declarations, penalties, costs and other orders, but did not specify the penalties sought. 



 (Reporting by Shruti Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Shruti.Agarwal@thomsonreuters.com;))