Tesla wins autopilot advertising battle in Germany as California complaint looms
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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will be allowed to refer to its driver assistance technology as autonomous driving and autopilot, per German industry publication Teslamag.
The automaker had been the subject of a complaint by the Center for Combating Unfair Competition in Frankfurt, which sought to prohibit the phrases on the basis of false advertising. A 2020 court ruling in Munich characterized the moniker as misleading, but this decision was later overruled by a higher court in the city in late 2021. The influential German competition watchdog sought to appeal the latter ruling with its complaint.
Per the German trade magazine, the complaint was thrown out by the Federal Court of Justice. As such, advertisements may continue to refer to the technologies in Teslaâs (TSLA) preferred terminology given the context provided in regards to its capabilities on Teslaâs website and company documents. Namely, the phrases "full potential for autonomous driving" and "Autopilot inclusive" in German advertising will be allowed to stand.
That said, Tesla continues to battle regulators in the US on similar grounds.
For example, the California DMV recently filed a complaint over deceptive marketing of the very same technologies. The suit adds to a recent formal request filed by US Senator Gary Peters and Representative Jan Schakowsky to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for a briefing on the ongoing probes into crashes of Tesla (TSLA) vehicles involving AutoPilot and advanced driver assistance systems.
Read more on recent investigations opened into Tesla-involved crashes.