Danish authorities slam BMW over false environmental claims – report
A marketing campaign in which BMW called itself “the world’s most sustainable car producer” has been slammed as misleading, now the country’s consumer watchdog has referred the matter to police.
Denmark’s consumer watchdog has referred BMW to local law enforcement authorities, alleging the German car-maker made misleading claims regarding its environmental impact in a marketing campaign that ran over the past two years.
News agency Reuters reports BMW claimed it was “the world’s most sustainable car producer” in marketing material in Denmark between 2021 and 2022.
The Danish Consumer Ombudsman (DCO) – Denmark’s equivalent to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) – has alleged BMW misled customers into thinking its cars were more environmentally friendly than those of its competitors.
According to Reuters, the Danish Marketing Practices Act says, “marketing campaigns are not allowed to contain information that is incorrect or possibly misleading and companies must be able to document that their statements are truthful”.
As the consumer watchdog does not have the power to prosecute companies who break the country’s marketing laws, the DCO reported BMW to Danish police last week to investigate the claims.
A spokesperson for the DCO said it is essential companies do not authorise marketing campaigns – especially those which include environmental claims – without making sure the included information is truthful.
“It is not only harmful to competing companies but also to the green transition, as we lose trust in the credibility of such messages,” DCO spokesperson Christina Toftegaard Nielsen told Reuters.
A BMW spokesperson also told the publication “it is working constructively with the ombudsman and the police and is providing necessary information”, but did not offer further comments.
The investigation follows a crack-down on false ‘green-washing’ claims made by car companies elsewhere in Europe, amid tightening emissions regulations and increased scrutiny of the automotive industry’s environmental impact.
In June 2023, the UK divisions of Toyota and Hyundai were forced to withdraw electric-car ads across the country after the advertising watchdog found the auto-makers had promoted misleading fast-charging claims.
The UK’s advertising watchdown found “the ads omitted material information about the factors that could significantly affect the advertised charging time and the limitations in relation to availability… the claims had not been substantiated and were misleading”.
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