A German judge has banned a Tesla ad for misleading messaging about its vehicles’ autonomous driving capabilities.
According to a new report from TechCrunch, Tesla Germany is banned from repeating misleading claims in advertising about the capabilities of its driver assistance systems, including that its vehicles were capable of autonomous driving, a judge in Munich said on Tuesday.
The ruling means the company must not use phrases such as “full potential for autonomous driving” and “autopilot inclusive” when promoting its vehicles. In its ruling, which Tesla can appeal, the court said such advertising could make the impression that a car could drive without a human managing the controls and suggest that such systems were now legal on German roads.
The case was brought by Germany’s Wettbewerbszentrale, an industry-sponsored body tasked with policing anti-competitive practices. It said that Tesla’s claims amounted to misleading business practices, adding that the average buyer might be given the impression that the car could drive without human intervention and might suggest such a system was now legal on German roads.
Concerns have grown about assistance systems that can perform driving tasks for extended stretches with little or no human intervention, tempting drivers to neglect their obligation to be in control of their vehicles at all times.
Tesla has said it has informed customers that its automated driver assistance technology did not amount to a fully autonomous driving system.
In a tweet, Musk said “Tesla Autopilot was literally named after the term used in aviation. Also, what about Autobahn!?”
