ASA Adjudication on Cambria Automobiles Holdings Ltd

Ad

Three Internet business classified ads for a car dealership. Each ad featured pictures of the different cars available for sale. a. Beside each car was the logo of the dealership, which stated "Oxford Motor Village". b. Beside each car the logo of the dealership stated "Motorparks.co.uk. Oxford Motor Village, Kidlington". c. The headline stated "Oxford Motor Village". Text in a box on the right hand side of the ad, under the heading, "Trade Advertiser", stated "Oxford Motor Village, PO Box 60, OX5 1FH".

Issue

The complainant, who had been told by the advertiser that they were based in Swindon, challenged whether the advertiser could substantiate that they had a car dealership in Oxford.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Cambria Automobiles Holdings Ltd (Cambria) said they did not have a dealership in Oxford. They said that was clear when consumers clicked through to their website, and they argued that at no point was there a reference to any particular location or site in Oxford. Cambria said there was nothing unlawful in using a logo that stated Oxford Motor Village. They said they were entitled to have a PO Box address in Oxford and they did not believe that address indicated they had a dealership in Oxford.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted Cambria's response. We considered, however, that the references to Oxford Motor Village in ads (a) and (c) and Oxford Motor Village, Kidlington in ad (b) would be understood by consumers to mean that the dealership was based in Oxford. We also considered that that impression was reinforced by the Oxford PO Box address given in ad (c). We also understood that the PO Box address did not exist at the time the ads appeared. We noted Cambria's argument that their own website made clear the location of their dealership. However, ad (c) provided a 0844 telephone number and PO Box address rather than a link to the website, and we also understood that there was no Oxford based dealership listed on the motorparks.co.uk website link given in ad (b). We therefore considered that not all customers who saw the ads would be aware of Cambria's own website or the Swindon location of their dealership given in it. We considered that the ads implied that the dealership was based in Oxford, and because we understood that was not the case we concluded that ads (a), (b) and (c) were misleading.

The ads breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 6.1 (Honesty) and 7.2 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ads must not appear again in their current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)