Consumer groups tell FTC that Mercedes E300 Drive-Pilot TV ad is misleading, ad withdrawn

By Bruce Brown Published July 30, 2016

Consumer and auto safety groups are concerned that drivers place too much confidence in driving-assistance features. During July there’s been a lot of pushback about whether carmakers should even activate driver-assist features until they’re further along in development, following reports of a fatality involving a Tesla S in Autopilot mode in May. A recent Mercedes-Benz television ad that appears to let the driver take his hands from the wheel has prompted groups to send a joint letter to the FTC claiming the ad is misleading, according to Automotive News. Updated 7/30/16 – The television ad called “The Future” has been withdrawn.

A Mercedes TV commercial for the 2017 E300 with Drive Pilot caused the complaint. The E-Class Drive Pilot option combines advanced adaptive cruise control and a lane-keeping feature. Both are rated to function at speeds of up to 130 mph. The commercial shows a driver moving through city streets at night and removing his hands from the wheel while the car steers itself. A YouTube version of the ad that is now private also showed the driver adjusting his necktie while the car parks itself, reports Automotive News.

Recommended Videos

The YouTube ad, called “The Future,” had fine print across the bottom that read, “Vehicle cannot drive itself, but has automated driving features. The system will remind the driver frequently to keep hands on the steering wheel. Always observe safe driving practices and obey all road traffic regulations.”

The video narration, however, says, “Is the world truly ready for a vehicle that can drive itself? Ready or not, the future is here.”

Concerns about drivers getting the wrong idea about the car’s capabilities led Consumer Reports, the Center for Auto Safety, the Consumer Federation of America, and former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) administrator Joan Claybrook to send a joint letter to Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez.

The letter states that the E300 Drive Pilot option doesn’t meet the NHTSA’s classification standards for either full or partially autonomous cars. The car, however, according to the letter, is “marketed in a way that a reasonable consumer would believe it does.” The letter also claims the TV ad could give “a false sense of security in the ability of the car to operate autonomously.”

In response, a Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman said, “The systems used in the new E-Class are clearly identified as ‘driver assistance systems’ which we have spent the better part of two decades developing in pursuit of an accident-free future. ‘The Future,’ featuring the F015 concept car, is intended to draw the connection between that vision and the innovations that are in today’s Mercedes-Benz models.”

The spokeswoman also said Mercedes does not intend to confuse viewers about current driver-assistance systems and autonomous cars, “one leads to the other but they are not the same.”

The FTC has not commented on the matter, but the group that sent the letter stated, “FTC guidance bars advertisers from using fine print to ‘contradict’ statements in an ad or ‘clear up false impressions the ad might leave.'”

Updated 7-30-16 by Bruce Brown: Added mention that Mercedes-Benz has withdrawn the ad.

Topics

Contributing Editor

Bruce Brown Contributing Editor As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…

Cars

Toyota shifts gears: 15 New EVs and a million cars by 2027

Front three quarter view of the 2023 Toyota bZ4X.

After years of cautiously navigating the electric vehicle (EV) market, Toyota is finally ramping up its commitment to fully electric vehicles.
The Japanese automaker, which has long relied on hybrids, is now planning to develop about 15 fully electric models by 2027, up from five currently. These models will include vehicles under the Toyota and Lexus brands, with production expected to reach 1 million units annually by that year, according to a report from Nikkei.
This strategy marks a significant shift for Toyota, which has thus far remained conservative in its approach to electric cars. The company sold just 140,000 EVs globally in 2024—representing less than 2% of its total global sales. Despite this, Toyota is aiming for a much larger presence in the EV market, targeting approximately 35% of its global production to be electric by the end of the decade.
The Nikkei report suggests the company plans to diversify its production footprint beyond Japan and China and expanding into the U.S., Thailand, and Argentina. This would help mitigate the impact of President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all car imports, as well as reduce delivery times. Toyota is also building a battery plant in North Carolina.
For now, Toyota has only two fully electric vehicles on the U.S. market: The bZ4X and the Lexus RZ models. The Japanese automaker is expected to introduce new models like the bZ5X and a potential electric version of the popular Tacoma pickup.
Separately, Toyota and Honda, along with South Korea’s Hyundai, all announced on April 4 that they would not be raising prices, at least over the next couple of months, following the imposition of U.S. tariffs. According to a separate Nikkei report, Toyota’s North American division has told its suppliers that it will absorb the extra costs of parts imported from Mexico and Canada. Another 25% for automotive parts imported to the U.S. is slated to come into effect on May 3.

Cars

Tesla, Warner Bros. dodge some claims in ‘Blade Runner 2049’ lawsuit, copyright battle continues

Tesla Cybercab at night

Tesla and Warner Bros. scored a partial legal victory as a federal judge dismissed several claims in a lawsuit filed by Alcon Entertainment, a production company behind the 2017 sci-fi movie Blade Runner 2049, Reuters reports.
The lawsuit accused the two companies of using imagery from the film to promote Tesla’s autonomous Cybercab vehicle at an event hosted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk at Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Studios in Hollywood in October of last year.
U.S. District Judge George Wu indicated he was inclined to dismiss Alcon’s allegations that Tesla and Warner Bros. violated trademark law, according to Reuters. Specifically, the judge said Musk only referenced the original Blade Runner movie at the event, and noted that Tesla and Alcon are not competitors.
"Tesla and Musk are looking to sell cars," Reuters quoted Wu as saying. "Plaintiff is plainly not in that line of business."
Wu also dismissed most of Alcon's claims against Warner Bros., the distributor of the Blade Runner franchise.
However, the judge allowed Alcon to continue its copyright infringement claims against Tesla for its alleged use of AI-generated images mimicking scenes from Blade Runner 2049 without permission.
Alcan says that just hours before the Cybercab event, it had turned down a request from Tesla and WBD to use “an icononic still image” from the movie.
In the lawsuit, Alcon explained its decision by saying that “any prudent brand considering any Tesla partnership has to take Musk’s massively amplified, highly politicized, capricious and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes veers into hate speech, into account.”
Alcon further said it did not want Blade Runner 2049 “to be affiliated with Musk, Tesla, or any Musk company, for all of these reasons.”
But according to Alcon, Tesla went ahead with feeding images from Blade Runner 2049 into an AI image generator to yield a still image that appeared on screen for 10 seconds during the Cybercab event. With the image featured in the background, Musk directly referenced Blade Runner.
Alcon also said that Musk’s reference to Blade Runner 2049 was not a coincidence as the movie features a “strikingly designed, artificially intelligent, fully autonomous car.”

Cars

Audi halts vehicle deliveries to the U.S. as it mulls impact of tariffs

2021 Audi Q5

If you’d been thinking of buying an Audi, now might be the time. The German brand, owned by the Volkswagen Group, has announced it would halt shipments to the U.S. in the wake of President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all imported vehicles.
Audi is currently holding cars that arrived after the tariffs took effect, on April 3, in U.S. ports. But it still has around 37,000 vehicles in its U.S. inventory, which should be able to meet demand for about two months, according to Reuters.
Automakers on average hold enough cars to meet U.S. demand for about three months, according to Cox Automotive.
Audi should be particularly affected by the tariffs: The Q5, its best-selling model in the U.S., is produced in Mexico, while other models, such as the A3, A4, and A6 are produced in Germany.
Holding shipments is obviously a temporary measure to buy time for Audi and parent company Volkswagen. If tariffs stay in place, vehicle prices would likely have to go up accordingly, unless some production is shifted to the U.S. Volkswagen already has a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is planning a new plant in South Carolina. That latter plant, however, isn’t expected to be operational until 2027 and is currently dedicated to building electric vehicles for VW’s Scout Motors brand.
Other global automakers have also taken drastic measures in response to Trump’s tariffs. Jaguar Land Rover on April 5 said it is pausing shipments of its its UK-made cars to the United States this month. The British sports-luxury vehicle maker noted that the U.S. market accounts for nearly a quarter of its global sales, led by the likes of Range Rover Sports, Defenders, and Jaguar F-PACE.
And on April 3, Nissan, the biggest Japanese vehicle exporter to the United States, announced it will stop taking new U.S. orders for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs, the QX50 and QX55.