Britain's advertising watchdog told Toyota on Wednesday to modify a television commercial that it found misled consumers about how much the Japanese automaker's Prius car benefited the environment. The advertisement claimed that the hybrid gas-electric vehicle emitted up to one tonne of carbon dioxide less per year than a similar family car with a diesel engine.
But the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said Toyota's data was based on the 20,000 kilometre (12,000-mile) average annual distance driven by cars in the United States, instead of the 13,440 kilometres average in Britain.
The ASA, which probed a complaint about the commercial, told Toyota not to broadcast the Prius commercial again in the same form after it found the company had breached advertising rules.
It said it agreed the Prius car emitted "significantly less" carbon dioxide than some other cars with greater engine capacity, but faulted Toyota on the figures presented.
"We did not consider their evidence demonstrated that it emitted one tonne less than equivalent vehicles with diesel engines or that it took into account the average annual distance driven by private cars in the UK," the ASA said.
Toyota said it had qualified the claim by saying the Prius' carbon dioxide emissions were "up to" one tonne less per year.
Source: Agence France-Presse
