BERLIN — Tesla agreed to change the way it advertises the Model 3 sedan in Germany by getting rid of fuel-savings claims that a fair-competition watchdog said are misleading.
Tesla has been promoting the four-wheel-drive version of the car on its German-language website with claims that buyers can get 5,000 euros ($5,654) in savings over five years off the car’s price tag of 56,380 euros.
Tesla has agreed to drop references to prices “after estimated savings” as of March 20, said Wettbewerbszentrale, a Munich-based watchdog.
The offending bits of language are “arbitrary, lack transparency and infringe rules on actual and clear pricing” practices, according to the organization, which is a self-regulatory body with 1,200-member companies that agree to uphold voluntary fair-competition rules.
New registrations of Teslas in Germany were just 1,092 last month, according to the Federal Motor Transport Authority. The company is looking to significantly increase deliveries in Europe by beginning shipments of the Model 3 this quarter.
Germany offers subsidies to electric-car buyers, and Chancellor Angela Merkel is counting on a rapid uptake of low-emission vehicles from the start of the next decade.
Be the first to comment