Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd 240 Bath House Slough Berkshire SL1 4HJ Number of complaints: 2

Date: 25 June 2008 Media: National press Sector: Motoring

Ad
Two press ads for Fiat cars. Ad (a) was headlined "E CO2 NOMY OF SCALE". The "CO2" portion of this was coloured green. Ad (b) was headlined "LESS CO2 NO CONGESTION CHARGE". The CO2 portion of this was also coloured green. The ads were identical in the middle section, and both depicted four different models of Fiat, which were described above with a model name and a price, and below with a specification in each case.

Text beneath the car images on ads (a) and (b) stated "Fiat's average CO2 emissions are lower than any other car manufacturer (Source:cleangreencars.co.uk)."

Text beneath that in ad (a) stated "It's amazing what happens when the ideas are bigger and the cars are smaller. Especially since low emissions now means you'll pay just £35 road tax on the cars above, and from this October no congestion charge ...". Text in the same position on ad (b) stated "From October you'll pay no congestion charge on any of these cars. Their low low emissions already mean you'll pay just £35 road tax ..."

Text below these statements on both ads (a) and (b) stated "Fuel consumption figures for the Fiat Bravo, Grande Punto, 500 and Panda mpg (I/100km) and CO2 emissions: Urban - 53.3 (5.3) - 30.4 (9.3) Extra Urban - 80.7 (3.5) - 48.7 (5.8) Combined - 67.3 (4.2) - 39.8 (7.1) C02 - 110-167." Small-print at the very bottom of ads (a) and (b) stated "Cars shown: Bravo 1.6 16v Multijet diesel Dynamic OTR £15,270, Grande Punto, 1.3 16v Multijet diesel Dynamic OTR £11,295. 500, 1.2 Lounge OTR £10,000. Panda, 1.3 16v MultiJet diesel Dynamic £9,240. Prices correct at the time of going to press."

Issue
1. Two readers said they believed the ads were misleading because the actual models depicted cost more than the prices displayed above them.

2. One reader said he believed ad (a) was misleading because the "CO2" in green print and the explanatory copy indicated this was an ad for low CO2 emission cars, but three of the four prices given above the vehicles were prices for models with considerably higher CO2 emissions figures.

The CAP Code:

7.1;48.7;15.1;49.1;49.2;19.1

Response
Fiat Group Automobiles Ltd (Fiat) said the ads were designed to send two messages. The first was to advertise the Fiat range and to indicate entry level prices for the Grande Punto, Panda, 500 and Bravo. They said the second intention was to advertise that Fiat branded cars had the lowest average CO2 emissions of any car manufacturer. They cited Cleangreencars.co.uk's research in support of that.

Fiat said they had been keen to ensure that the cars featured in the photographs were available with emissions less than 120 g CO2 per km, as this was the tax threshold and the break point for the congestion charge from October 2008. They said the ad also stated the maximum and minimum fuel consumption and emissions for the Fiat range.

Fiat said they had not intended to mislead and did not believe any reasonable reader would be led to the conclusion that the model illustrated was necessarily available for the range price. However, they said the ad would not be shown again in its current form.

Assessment
1. Upheld
We noted the headline prices in the ads were for bottom of the range models, and that the prices of the low CO2 emissions cars featured with their specifications were more expensive. We acknowledged that the headline prices were preceded by the word "from" and that the actual prices of the models featured were given in small-print at the bottom of the ad. However, we also noted the CAP Code stated explicitly that prices quoted in motoring ads should correspond to the vehicles illustrated, and that it was not acceptable to feature a more expensive model alongside the starting price for that range. We considered that the presentation of the ads, which showed the low emissions vehicles alongside prices for the bottom of the range vehicles with higher emissions, gave the impression that Fiat's low CO2 emissions cars were cheaper than they were. We concluded that the ads could mislead.

On this point the ads breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness), 15.1 (Prices), 18.1 (Comparisons) 48.7 (Motoring) and 49.1 (Environmental claims: qualification).

2. Upheld
We considered the "CO2" in green print and the explanatory copy in the ads gave the impression that the ads were for low CO2 emission cars. We acknowledged that Cleengreencars.co.uk, an organisation that offered information about cars and the environment on its website, showed data indicating that, in 2007, Fiat ranked first among manufacturers in terms of sales weighted CO2 performance overall, with the lowest emissions quotient. We noted these data also showed that in the first quarter of 2008 Fiat had been superseded by Mini in this regard, and ranked second. However, we noted the ads were published in February 2008 and that first quarter data was generally published in March and therefore considered the claim "Fiat's average CO2 emissions are lower than any other car manufacturer" was supported at the time the ads were published.  We acknowledged that the cars featured in the photographs in the ads were available with emissions of less than 120 g CO2 per km. Nevertheless, we noted that three of the four headline prices featured next to the images were for models that had higher CO2 emissions figures.

We noted the colour-coded fuel economy label for vehicles featured on the Department for Transport's website was banded from A to G, with bands A and B, coloured green, representing cars that emitted the least CO2 as well as having lower car tax. We noted the upper limit for CO2 emissions for inclusion in band B was 120 g/km. We noted that the Fiat models represented by the headline prices in the ads fell into bands C and D (colour coded light green and yellow respectively). We concluded that whilst Fiat was a manufacturer with a low average CO2 emissions quotient, the prices featured in the ads did not represent low CO2 emission cars and the ad could mislead on those grounds.

On this point ad (a) breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness), 15.1 (Prices), 19.1 (Comparisons), 48.7 (Motoring), 49.1 and 49.2 (Environmental claims).

Action
We welcomed Fiat's assurance that the ads would not be shown again in their current form. We advised Fiat to consult the CAP Copy Advice team before publishing further ads of this nature.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)