ASA Adjudication on Porsche Cars Great Britain Ltd

Ad

A press ad for Porsche stated “More performance, less fuel … The new Cayenne S Hybrid can even travel to a speed of 37mph without using its V6 petrol engine”.

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that the vehicle could operate without using petrol and producing emissions, because he understood the vehicle could only operate without a V6 petrol engine for a limited distance.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Porsche Cars Great Britain Ltd (Porsche) explained that the Cayenne S Hybrid could be powered by an electric motor without support from the V6 petrol combustion engine. They said the car could cover short distances whilst travelling up to a speed of 37 mph, without using the V6 petrol engine. Porsche argued that, because the ad did not claim the car could remain at a speed of 37 mph for a specified distance, they did not need to include the distance in the ad. Furthermore, they argued that external conditions and individual driver behaviour would determine how far a car could travel without engaging its petrol engine, so it would be impossible for them to specify a particular distance.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the ad stated "The new Cayenne S Hybrid can even travel to a speed of 37mph without using its V6 petrol engine". We considered that the claim implied that drivers could travel for any distance without engaging the petrol engine, thus realising a saving in emissions and fuel, so long as the driver remained at, or below, 37 mph, which was not the case. Although we understood that Porsche were unable to provide a definitive distance of travel using the electric motor only, we nonetheless considered that the ad should have made clear the car could only travel for a limited distance at up to 37 mph before it would need to engage the petrol engine. In the absence of that clarification, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 and 7.2 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)