Nissan Korea fined for inflated mileage ads
The antitrust agency has imposed a fine of 900 million won ($803,713) on Nissan Korea and its mother company Nissan Motors for advertising bogus fuel efficiencies for their vehicles, and reported the two firms to prosecutors on the suspicion that they violated the Fair Labeling and Advertising Act.
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Nissan Korea promoted its Infiniti Q50 sedans as having a fuel efficiency of 15.1 kilometers per liter from February 2014 to November 2014 although it was actually 14.6 kilometers per liter. Ads stating this appeared in catalogues and car brochures, and on fuel efficiency labels attached to the vehicle.
The agency added Nissan Korea and Nissan Motors Limited falsely advertised that their Qashqai SUVs were designed to meet the Clean Air Conservation Act and Euro 6 Standards via vehicle fuel efficiency labels attached on the SUVs and internet homepages from November 2015 to June 2016.
With the deceptive advertisements, Nissan Korea sold 2,040 Q50 sedans and 824 Qashqai SUVs and generated sales of 68.6 billion won and 21.5 billion won respectively.
The FTC said it based the judgment on results of tests conducted by the Ministry of Environment in 2016. After testing the Qashqai SUVs, the ministry announced the results in May 2016 saying it found the exhaust gas recirculation device in the vehicle turned off when the engine temperature reached 35 degree Celsius. Turning off the device prevents fresh air from entering into the engine compartment, and produces more nitrogen oxide emissions.
“Given that consumers who purchase vehicles that fail to meet vehicle emission standards, should pay environmental improvement charges, we came to the conclusion that these deceptive advertisements could damage consumers and the public interest,” the FTC said.