ASA finds Mercedes guilty of exaggerated green claims
Thu 01 October 2009
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The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that a press advertisement for Mercedes-Benz vehicles which stated "CO2 emissions for the range are down to 139g/km" was likely to mislead customers and should be withdrawn. The ASA ruled that while certain variants of some models achieved the lowest emissions a number of vehicles in the range had emissions levels that were at the higher end of the emissions bandings used to assess VED.
A footnote to the advertisement stated that the lower emissions level was based on the Mercedes E250 CDI SE manual. The picture accompanying the advert showed a Mercedes E250 CDI Sport.
The complainant to the ASA had challenged whether the claim "CO2 emissions for the range are down to 139g/km" exaggerated the level of CO2 emissions for the E-Class Saloon range.
In its response to the ASA, Mercedes-Benz said they consulted CAP Copy Advice and the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) prior to publication and amended the copy to state that emissions figures for the range were "down to 139 g/km". They believed they took all reasonable steps to ensure that the claims could be substantiated and did not over claim for the emissions for the range. In addition, they supplied the ASA with an E-Class Saloon price list that listed the CO2 emissions for each vehicle in the range.
In its adjudication, the ASA noted that 24 possible combinations of E-Class models and variants of which two had an emissions figure of 139 g/km. The Authority considered that the claim "CO2 emissions for the range are down to 139 g/km*, which means its better for the environment" was likely to be understood by readers as meaning that the range as a whole was low in emissions relative to previous models and also when compared with other vehicles in the class. It said that the advert would give the impression to readers that a significant proportion of the range had achieved the lowest emissions figure, or a figure that was relatively low for the class, when that was not the case.
Action.
The ASA ruled that the advert must not appear again in its current form.
Mercedes guilty of exaggerating emissions of new cars
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
The German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz misled the public by claiming low emissions for a range of executive cars that are among the most polluting on the road, according to the Advertising Standards Authority today.
"Its a pleasure, but not a guilty one,” the automaker said in a magazine advert for the E-Class Saloon range priced between £26,000 and £47,000, adding that its emissions were “down to” 139grams of Co2 per kilometre
Following a complaint the ASA investigated and found that only two out of a possible 24 E-Class cars corresponded with the emissions figures, warranting an E band in the Government’s banding system which ranges from A to M.
Some were in the M band, the highest set by the Department for Transport to warn drivers about high levels of fuel consumption, taxation and pollution.
The case is the latest example of ‘greenwashing’, where companies have been found to have made spurious environmental claims. During the past two years, the ASA has banned ads from Shell for promoting its heavily-polluting extraction of oil from tar sands in Canada, British Gas for misleading businesses about its emissions performance, and easyJet for suggesting its aircraft were 22 per cent less polluting than rival planes with the use of figures skewed by its high passenger loads.
Last month, the Malaysian palm Oil Council was criticised by the ASA for suggesting that oil palm plantations were good for the environment and local people.
This year several car-makers including Lexus and Volkswagen have had environmental ads banned for four-wheel drives and saloons.
In the latest case, Mercedes-Benz suggested that drivers would switch to its new range safe in the knowledge that they would be helping the planet. "CO2 emissions for the range are down to 139g/km*, which means its better for the environment. It also means you pay less tax,” the company said
The model shown was a Mercedes-Benz E250 CDI Sport, which has emissions of 139g a kilometre. A footnote stated that the range’s emissions varied from 139g to 261g a kilometre,.
Mercedes-Benz told the ASA it believed it had taken reasonable steps to substantiate its claims and had not misrepresented emissions levels.
However the ASA said that the claim that the E-Class was “better for the environment" was likely to be understood as meaning the range as a whole was low in emissions compared with previous models and rival models.
Depending on model, fuel, gearbox and tyre sizes, only two vehicles out of the 24 in the range compared favourably with competitors’ vehicles of a similar class, while “a number of vehicles in the range had emissions levels that were at the higher end of the DfT emissions bandings.”
The ASA acknowledged the footnote. “However, we considered that the headline claim would give the impression to readers that a significant proportion of the range had achieved the lowest emissions figure, or a figure that was relatively low for the class, when that was not the case.”
The ad was banned under rules on truthfulness, motoring and environmental claims.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/motoring-news/mercedes-guilty-of-exagerating-emissions-of-new-cars-1795345.html
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