Tesla has emerged victorious in a lawsuit brought by Germany’s antitrust regulator alleging that the marketing around the electric vehicle (EV) maker’s advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD), is misleading — reports Teslamag.
This is far from Tesla’s first brush with concerns regarding how it advertises Autopilot and FSD.
The result comes after Tesla appealed a 2020 ruling from the Munich Regional Court finding it in the wrong. Tesla’s appeal was overseen by the Higher Regional Court of Munich, which ruled in the company’s favor in October of last year. However, it wasn’t until now that the decision was made public.
Germany’s competition watchdog was originally looking to have Tesla banned from even using the word “Autopilot.” However, the Higher Regional Court found that anyone going to Tesla’s website with the intention of placing an order could reasonably infer that the company’s EVs cannot drive autonomously in Germany.
That said, Tesla has had to alter some language on its website that refers to when some of its more advanced Autopilot and FSD features will be available in Germany. For example, Tesla’s German website has gone from saying that advanced FSD functions will be announced “by the end of the year” to “in the near future.”
According to Teslamag, Tesla’s win is decisive and there won’t be any more appeals. Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD branding has legally been declared permissible in Germany.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., the State of California’s Department of Motor Vehicles is taking action against Tesla’s marketing of Autopilot and FSD for being deceptive.
