The BBC title is misleading. The article is clear that it was British Audi _dealers_ that lied about the cars having done the Euro NCAP safety tests.
"Audi lied to me," said man.
The problem is not with the quote marks, but with the BBC using its own programs as a source of news.
This is a reasonable example but they do it all the time. This cross-promotion is annoying and I'm surprised the BBC news seems happy to allow it to continue.
I don't see anything wrong with that.
Although separate from BBC News, much of the work done by the BBC Watchdog team constitutes investigative journalism. Standard procedure is for revelations to be publicised in advance of the show to drive interest in the show.
The number of other major news outlets reporting these revelations suggest they are certainly newsworthy.
An impartial news organization should not report the accusations of third parties as fact; it should present them for what they are.
You will see the same thing in coverage of court trials. Prosecutors are wont to make many bold accusations, many of which will be found to be false or unsubstantiated. It is imperative that journalists present these as mere accusations, and quotation marks are an effective way of doing so.