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A brand new criticism with the FTC alleges that Toyota is partaking in false and deceptive advertising and marketing of its automobiles, resulting in client confusion over how “electrified” they are surely.
Final month, we lined how Toyota’s greenwashing hasn’t actually modified since its new CEO, Koji Sato, took over for Akio Toyoda.
Now, Public Citizen, the group that we talked to for that story, has formally aired its grievances about Toyota’s techniques with the US Federal Commerce Fee.
That is simply an FTC criticism – the FTC has not but opened or concluded an investigation. However the claims throughout the criticism are fairly in depth, displaying a number of examples of Toyota utilizing deceptive techniques to sow confusion about electrical vehicles out there.
The criticism lays out the argument that Toyota is much behind on EVs, that this threatens its market dominance and client loyalty, and that Toyota’s response has been to deliberately confuse clients about EVs and hybrids. It lays out the variations between EVs, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids, then describes a number of features of Toyota’s advertising and marketing of “electrified” automobiles which have deliberately confused these classes of auto.
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False promoting is a troublesome declare to show within the US, however it’s nonetheless throughout the FTC’s purview to make sure that customers should not misled. If an organization makes claims which can be deceptive to affordable customers and have a fabric impact on the competitors, the FTC can act to cease the corporate from making these claims.
Public Citizen alleges that Toyota’s claims are materials and misleading to affordable customers. It additionally argues that Toyota is exclusive within the quantity of misleading advertising and marketing engages in, and that it particularly has violated FTC’s “Inexperienced Guides,” a set of promoting pointers meant to make sure that corporations don’t market merchandise as environmentally-friendly when they don’t seem to be.
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The criticism contains a number of particular commercials that make Toyota seem to be a frontrunner in electrical automobiles when it’s not. These embody:
Pictures of a hybrid being shocked by a jolt of electrical energy, regardless of that typical hybrids get all of their vitality from gasoline.
Pictures of a gas-powered hybrid driving subsequent to photo voltaic panels (which might’t cost it) subsequent to the phrases “carbon impartial” (which it’s not).
Utilizing the phrase “vary” to explain how far a hybrid can go on a tank of fuel, as a substitute of mpg as nearly all fuel automotive commercials do.
A “To Every Their Personal Electrical” marketing campaign, which incorporates a number of automobiles that run solely on gasoline.
And the basic “self-charging hybrid” lie which obtained Toyota’s advertisements banned in Norway.
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However the largest variety of complaints contain the phrase “electrified,” which has been used as a weasel phrase by a number of producers. It’s usually used to explain any car that has an electrical motor in it, however creates confusion in clients who don’t know the distinction between typical hybrids, that run totally on gasoline, and precise electrical automobiles.
Toyota has used this phrase greater than different manufacturers – between claiming that it gives “extra electrified automobiles than another model,” regardless of Toyota solely having one full battery-electric car; or its “electrified diversified” advertising and marketing marketing campaign, suggesting that non-electric automobiles ought to by some means rely as electrical. Whereas different manufacturers do use the phrase in some bulletins, they don’t usually craft whole advertising and marketing campaigns round it.
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The criticism argues that these violations are dangerous to the general EV market, as a result of they’ve created confusion amongst customers and even business sources, and that this isn’t a trivial violation as a result of vehicles are usually essentially the most or second costliest factor that any particular person will personal.
For these causes, Public Citizen finishes out the criticism by asking the FTC to research Toyota’s advertising and marketing and develop particular steerage on EV advertising and marketing in order that different corporations can not use the identical tips to mislead customers about their merchandise.
Electrek’s Take
We’ve made it clear many instances, we’re not a fan of Toyota’s EV technique. And a number of the rationale for that’s their deceptive advertising and marketing associated to electrical vehicles, which we’ve lined earlier than right here on Electrek.
The corporate has been one of many world’s greatest opponents to electrification and to raised local weather coverage on the whole, on par with fossil gas corporations themselves.
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And with a large firm – one of many world’s largest – actively opposing local weather motion and sowing doubt in an automotive market the place it holds outsized affect, I believe it’s straightforward to inform how this may be dangerous to the world.
The FTC criticism itself (you’ll find a PDF of the criticism linked on this web page) lists a number of examples that we hadn’t heard of, and makes Toyota appear fairly unhealthy.
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However Toyota’s inaction isn’t simply dangerous for the complete world, it’s additionally fairly in all probability going to be dangerous for the economic system of Japan. Even when we ignore the horrible results of local weather change and air pollution that Toyota has thrown its weight behind, its intransigence on EVs is prone to price the Japanese economic system trillions.
Toyota has a brand new CEO, and that new CEO joined the corporate on the pondering that he would be capable of enhance the corporate’s EV technique. That hasn’t occurred but, and Toyota is as much as its usual tips – nevertheless it doesn’t should be, and it could change. It’s about time it does so.
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