Coupling assembly for a vehicle air-conditioning unit

A coupling assembly (10) for a vehicle air-conditioning unit comprises a tubular component (12) and a coupling component (14) for coupling the tubular component (12) to a connecting part (16), whereby the coupling component (14) constitutes a separate component that can be inserted into the tubular component (12), which is connected to tubular component (12) by a locking connection (24). [0002] A method of coupling a tubular component (12) of a vehicle air-conditioning unit to a connecting part (16) that includes the following steps: Provision of tubular component (12), connecting part (16) and a separate coupling component (14); attachment of the coupling component (14) to the end of the tubular component (12) and attachment of coupling component (14) on the tubular component (12) by means of a locking connection (24); and insertion of the coupling component (14) fixed to the tubular component (12) in the connecting part (16), and attachment of the coupling component (14) to the connecting part (16).