VOLKSWAGEN AG 
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's government said it expects Volkswagen (>> Volkswagen AG) to provide details next week on whether vehicles fitted with emissions cheating devices had been sold in the country as hundreds of local drivers considered legal action.
Almost two weeks after confirming 11 million vehicles around the world had been fitted with so called "defeat devices", the German automaker and subsidiary Audi have not provided details of the models or where they have been sold.
"VW and Audi have committed to update the public on Australian-sold vehicles as more detailed information is provided from their global headquarters," government minister Paul Fletcher said after meeting with representatives of the German automakers and domestic regulators on Friday.
"The government expects this information to be provided next week."
Volkswagen's German supervisory board said on Thursday it would take longer than expected to investigate its rigging of vehicle emissions tests, raising the prospect of months of uncertainty for customers, shareholders and staff.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has launched an enquiry to determine whether consumers have been misled and says Volkswagen faces legal action and millions of dollars in fines if found to have breached consumer laws.
Law firm Maurice Blackburn said it was talking to hundreds of Volkswagen drivers about potential legal action. Dozens of class action suits have already been launched in the United States and elsewhere.
"When I last looked, and that was early this morning, it was about 350, so it will be north of that," Maurice Blackburn principal Damian Scattini said, referring to the number of Volkswagen owners who had contacted his law firm.
"We're getting information from people and we will keep them updated. Hopefully a class action is not needed but it's not looking promising for Volkswagen," he said, describing Volkswagen's lack of response as intolerable.
Volkswagen Australia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sales of Volkswagen vehicles jumped 13 percent to almost 37,000 in the seven months to July, accounting for about 6 percent of the Australian market, according to PPB Advisory.
(Reporting by Lincoln Feast and Byron Kaye; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
