ASA Adjudication on Mercedes-Benz (United Kingdom) Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for a Smart car, showed a speeded-up sequence of the car driving from London to Edinburgh. The voice-over stated "On one tiny 33 litre tank, a Smart car can do 433 miles".

Issue

Five viewers challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that the stated fuel efficiency was achievable in typical driving conditions.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Mercedes Benz UK Ltd (Mercedes) said the Smart fortwo had a 33-litre tank (7.25 gallons) and the combined cycle fuel consumption on the Smart fortwo coup passion (71 bhp, 52 kw, 999 cc naturally aspirated engine) was 60.1 mpg. Mercedes said they calculated the mileage for the claim on the basis that the distance from London to Edinburgh was 433 miles using the AA route planner or 413 miles using the RAC route planner i.e. London, Fulham - Edinburgh, The Royal Mile; they said they opted to use the longer distance for the claim.

Mercedes also pointed out that, like all motor manufacturer models, the Smart fortwo could achieve a higher mpg output during extra-urban travel.  Despite that they decided to use the combined cycle due to the controlled test conditions in which mpg was officially calculated.  They said they wanted to demonstrate, by using only the combined cycle consumption figure, that the Smart fortwo was suitable for travel outside of the urban environment.  They pointed out that the journey from London to Edinburgh was closer to 10% urban and 90% extra urban, which meant the claim was likely to be an understatement of the Smart car's performance.  Mercedes pointed out that the standard vehicle tank size in the UK was 45 litres and that, at 33 litres, the Smart tank was significantly smaller.  They said they wanted to demonstrate that the Smart car was capable of driving in an extra urban environment. They calculated the distance that the Smart Car could travel on the basis of 33 litres divided by 4.54609 (gallon conversion) times 60.1 mpg (the Combined cycle figure) giving a total millage of 436.26, which was over three miles further than the distance between London and Edinburgh.

Mercedes sent footage of the journey undertaken from London to Edinburgh, which was edited to create the ad. They maintained that it demonstrated that the car could achieve the mileage stated in the ad on the equivalent of one tank of petrol, provided a certain driving style was followed.  They said the Smart fortwo 71 bhp petrol coup achieved the distance at a fuel consumption of 73 mpg at an average speed of around 40 mph. Mercedes also said a test by Italian automotive magazine Quatroruote, demonstrated that a Smart fortwo could achieve its combined cycle output.  The independent test was conducted by Quatroruote and involved a Smart fortwo cdi travelling 1000 km on one 33 litre tank of fuel.   Mercedes said the official fuel consumption figures for the Smart fortwo cdi, in mpg, were: urban 83.1, extra urban: 85.6, combined: 85.6. Although they acknowledged that the test was carried out on the 45 bhp cdi model and not the 71 bhp petrol model featured in the ad, they believed it still highlighted that a Smart fortwo was capable of achieving the stated fuel consumption figures outside of a laboratory environment.

Mercedes pointed out that, as with all the UK's car manufacturers, the Smart fortwo's fuel consumption figures were held by the Vehicle Certification Authority (VCA) as per the statutory requirement. They added that all advertising material for motor vehicles was required to carry the VCA fuel consumption data.

Clearcast said, prior to approval of the ad, they requested and received substantiation for the claim that a Smart car could achieve 433 miles on a 33 litre tank.  They said the rational received from the agency was calculated using the official government fuel figures for the Smart range.  The cars featured in the Smart car ad were all 71 bhp models.  Clearcast pointed out that that was the standard engine size for Smart cars but noted other less-fuel efficient engines were part of the range.  They said they therefore used a 'range' consumption figure.  Clearcast noted London to Edinburgh was 433 miles.  They noted the Smart car's fuel tank held 33 litres, which was 7.25 gallons.  They pointed out that 433/7.25=59.7 mpg, which was below the combined consumption figure of 60.1 mpg and significantly below the extra-urban consumption figure of 70.6 mpg.  They also pointed out that most of the journey was extra-urban.  Clearcast also said the agency shot the ad by strapping a camera to the front of a Smart car and driving it from London to Edinburgh.  This footage was then speeded up to fit in to a 30-second commercial.  Clearcast was confident that that further served to prove that a Smart Car was indeed capable of doing 433 miles on a 33 litre tank.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the claim "On one tiny 33 litre tank, a Smart car can do 433 miles" was based on a calculation derived from official VCA testing of the Smart Car's performance.  We understood that the VCA's role was to carry out rigorous laboratory testing of new car models to produce accurate fuel consumption figures to facilitate comparisons between different models.  We noted, although VCA figures were not always completely representative of fuel consumption under real driving conditions, Mercedes had sent evidence that showed they had driven a Smart car from London to Edinburgh, i.e. 433 miles, on one tank of petrol.

We considered that the VCA figures in conjunction with Mercedes evidence that the journey had been achieved on one tank of petrol was sufficient to support the claim that a Smart car could do 433 miles on one tank of petrol. We concluded that the ad was not misleading.

We investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading Advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence) and 5.2.2 (Implications) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)