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Audi sales staff caught lying over safety rating

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Audi A5 Coupé 2.0 TFSI quattro S tronic Gletscherweiß Facelift scaled
Audi A5 Coupé 2.0 TFSI quattro S tronic Gletscherweiß Facelift scaled

Audi is alleged to have ignore warnings that its sales staff lied to customers about its cars’ safety ratings, according to a BBC documentary.

Researcher from BBC Watchdog witnesses dealers around the UK falsely claiming the Audi A5 was  Euro NCAP safety tested.

Euro NCAP is backed by the European Commission and funded by various European governments and motoring organisations.

The A5 as well as the A7, A8 and R8 – are not tested. Audi’s UK head office falsely claimed that the entire Audi range was Euro NCAP safety tested, according to a BBC report. Audi denied it had deliberately intended to mislead. A poor safety record could potentially push up the cost of auto insurance for some drivers.

The deception was flagged up by Daniel Jenkins, whose father  was almost killed in a 45 mph collision while driving the car. Jenkins discovered that the car had never been put through any Euro NCAP programme or crash tested.

“Forty-eight of the 50 dealers I spoke to told me directly that it had been put through the Euro NCAP programme and it had a five-star rating,” said Jenkins.

Despite Audi’s head office promising to look into the matter, Watchdog investigators exposed similar failings at dealerships.

An Audi spokesman told the BBC that it had “begun a comprehensive and far-reaching review of all of our communications and training procedures to ensure accuracy of information on test data provided to our customers.”