Background

Summary of Council decision:

Two issues were investigated, of which one was Upheld and one was Not upheld.

Ad description

The Vauxhall Ampera section of the website www.vauxhall.co.uk, promoting the Vauxhall Ampera, contained a table headed "Fuel Consumption Properties". Text stated "Fuel consumption, extra-urban driving mpg (litres/100km): 217.3 (1.3) - Fuel consumption, urban driving mpg (litres/100km): 315.9 (0.9) - Fuel consumption, combined mpg (litres/100km): 235.4 (1.2) - CO2 emissions (g/km): 27".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading, because it provided:

1. fuel consumption; and

2. vehicle emission figures

without stating that those did not take into account the electricity used to drive the car and charge its battery.

Response

1. & 2. General Motors UK Ltd, trading as Vauxhall (Vauxhall), noted that the Vauxhall Ampera was a hybrid vehicle operating on both a battery and a petrol engine. They said, on a full charge the Ampera could drive up to 52 miles, but on average that could be between 25 and 50 miles depending on driving technique, terrain and temperature. When the battery was fully depleted, the petrol engine would take over and would generate electricity to drive the car's electric motor.

Vauxhall said the fuel consumption and emissions figures quoted in the ad were obtained from official European tests carried out to a set standard, and provided a copy of the results (the Vehicle Type Approval certificate). That document listed the Ampera's CO2 output and fuel (petrol) consumption under two testing conditions: when the car was operating on the battery; and when it was using petrol to power the electric motor by way of the combustion engine. The results under each condition were then weighted and combined to produce an average figure for the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions whilst the car was in use. It was those average figures which had been quoted in the ad.

Vauxhall said the ad was a standard template which appeared for all vehicles on their website and showed the official Vehicle Type Approval figures for the Ampera. They said they had gone to great lengths in all media, including on the website in question, to highlight the Ampera's status as an extended-range vehicle, and they expected consumers to understand the figures quoted as much as they would understand the figures on any other page.

In relation to the stated CO2 emissions, Vauxhall acknowledged that the generation of the electricity used to power the car's battery would carry an environmental cost which was not accounted for in the figure given. However, they pointed out that the drilling, refining, pipelining and transportation of fossil fuels also caused CO2 emissions which were not accounted for in the EU test process. They said they understood it was not a requirement for car manufacturers to quote figures which took account of the emissions produced in the generation of electricity to power the battery.

After considering the complaint, Vauxhall made changes to their website, adding text to explain that official EU-regulated test data was provided for comparison purposes and may not reflect actual vehicle performance. They also included the statement "Fuel consumption figures mpg (litres/100km) and CO2 emissions (g/km). Vauxhall Ampera model shown: Urban: N/A. Extra Urban: N/A. Combined/weighted: 235.4mpg (1.2). CO2 emissions: 27g/km. The ‘Combined/weighted’ fuel consumption/CO2 figures calculated from two test results: one when the battery is fully charged and the other when the battery is discharged. The two test results are a weighted average, taking into account mileage range on battery power only, providing a figure in a variety of charge conditions. Extended range achieved by 1.4 litre 16-valve VVT ECOTEC® petrol engine generating electricity".

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA understood that the Ampera was a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) which was powered by a petrol combustion engine as well as an electric battery. When the battery charge was depleted, the petrol engine would power the electric motor, thus extending the range of the vehicle.

We noted that the figures quoted in the ad were derived from standardised European tests intended to allow consumers to compare vehicles on a like-for-like basis. The ad quoted a fuel consumption figure for combined urban and extra-urban driving of 235.4 miles per gallon (1.2 litres per 100 km). We understood that that figure was a combined and weighted average of test results obtained through running the car on the battery and through the petrol combustion engine.

We considered that consumers interested in purchasing an Ampera and looking at the web page in question were likely to be aware of its status as a hybrid car, and particularly because the table listed the car's "engines" as being "Voltec E-FLEX (MKA)" and "Electric". However, we noted that the market in hybrid vehicles was relatively new and developing. Another type of hybrid vehicle (HEV, rather than PHEV) did not need to be plugged into the mains in order to charge its battery, because that was done automatically as it was driven. We considered that many consumers looking at the ad would have limited knowledge of the hybrid market and would not be aware of the distinction between HEVs and PHEVs. They therefore might not know that the Ampera required the input of mains electricity where other models of hybrid vehicle did not.

We noted that, in order to enable a like-for-like comparison, fuel consumption figures such as those stated in the ad had to be generated under test conditions. However, we considered that, in the absence of qualification to the contrary, consumers were likely to interpret those figures to be representative of what they would achieve when they were driving the car themselves. Further, they would expect the quoted figures to relate to the total amount of fuel input into the vehicle and consumed whilst it was in motion. However, we understood that that was not the case. The figures that expressed the amount of petrol used by the car were weighted and averaged across test conditions where the electric motor was running on both the battery and the combustion engine. Because the Ampera, as a PHEV, required the input of mains electricity in order to charge the battery, but the test results shown did not include the amount of mains electricity consumed, and in the absence of qualification to that effect, we concluded that the quoted fuel consumption figures were misleading. We welcomed the changes made by Vauxhall to the web page, which communicated both that the fuel consumption figures quoted were not necessarily representative of what a user would achieve when driving the car and that they had been achieved through a combination of battery power and petrol fuel. We considered the qualification should also, however, state that the battery's charge was derived from mains electricity.

On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  and  3.3 3.3 Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
 (Misleading advertising) and  3.9 3.9 Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.  (Qualification.

2. Not upheld

We noted that the CO2 emissions figure stated in the ad (27 g/km) had been achieved through the same tests as outlined in point 1 above, and was again a weighted and combined average of the CO2 produced by the Ampera when being driven using both the battery and the petrol engine to fuel the car's electric motor.

We recognised that the generation of electricity to charge the Ampera's battery would cause CO2 emissions beyond those detailed in the ad, because it only took into account emissions given out when driving. However, we considered that consumers would expect a CO2 emissions figure given in relation to a vehicle to relate to the total amount of CO2 produced by that vehicle whilst it was in motion.

Although the stated CO2 emissions figure of 27 g/km had been reached through driving the car on a combination of battery charge and petrol combustion engine, we understood that it was representative of the total amount of CO2 produced by the Ampera whilst it was in use. Because we were satisfied that that matched the likely consumer expectation of the claim, we concluded that the vehicle emissions figure stated in the ad was not misleading.

On that point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  and  3.3 3.3 Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
 (Misleading advertising),  3.9 3.9 Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.  (Qualification) and  11.1 11.1 The basis of environmental claims must be clear. Unqualified claims could mislead if they omit significant information.  and  11.7 11.7 Marketing communications must not mislead consumers about the environmental benefit that a product offers; for example, by highlighting the absence of an environmentally damaging ingredient if that ingredient is not usually found in competing products or by highlighting an environmental benefit that results from a legal obligation if competing products are subject to that legal obligation.  (Environmental claims), but did not find it in breach.

Action

We acknowledged the action taken by Vauxhall to qualify the fuel consumption claim so as to make clear it might not reflect real-world driving styles and had been achieved through a combination of running the car on its battery and petrol engine. We considered that the qualification should also state that the battery's charge was derived from mains electricity and told Vauxhall to make that clear.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

11.1     11.7     3.1     3.3     3.9    


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