Car advertising and fuel consumption: new strict decision by the ACC

On the basis of EU law, it is mandatory to provide fuel consumption and CO2 emission figures in some types of advertisements for passenger cars. This information is meant to help consumers making their choice, keeping both costs and environmental considerations in mind. These fuel usage and CO2 emission figures are established in European laboratories, under specific conditions prescribed by law. In practice, the fuel consumption and CO2 emission of cars are higher than the official figures indicate – even when the results are not manipulated. Does that mean that advertisers should point that out to the consumer?  

Up until now the answers was no. Producers are legally required to specify the official details in advertisements. Moreover, it is generally known that the details shown are laboratory results, which do not correspond with the car’s performance on the road. 

However, the President of the Advertising Code Committee recently was very strict in a decision in relation to an advertisement for the Peugeot 2008. Even when the fuel consumption is specified as legally required, this does not preclude the possibility of misleading advertising. According to the President, the average consumer is indeed aware that the official fuel consumption figures are not realistic. However, the consumer should be informed that the consumption figures are the official ones.
 
In light of the decision, advertisers who desire to limit the risk of deception are advised to mention in the advertisement that the fuel consumption and CO2-emission figures provided are official figures. For instance, by indicating “Official fuel consumption and CO2 emission figures”. One step further would be to include an explicit disclaimer, providing a warning that the official figures are not achievable in real life. However, this does not seem to be legally required, since the President of the Advertising Code Committee does assume that the average consumer is in fact aware that the official figures do not correspond with reality.
 
Bram Duivenvoorde