Advertisment
The radio advertisement stated:
“2023 is already turning out to be an electric year for Hyundai.
Why? Because Hyundai is the best-selling electric car brand in January 2023 and the Ioniq 5 is now officially Ireland’s best-selling electric car.
Make 2023 the year you make the change to fully electric driving. You can be sure you’re making the right choice by visiting Hyundai.ie.
Best-selling claims based on the latest published monthly figures.”
Complaint
The complainant referred to the claim that Hyundai were the ‘best selling electric car brand’. They considered that because Hyundai manufactured petrol and diesel cars it was misleading to state that they were an ‘electric car brand’.
Response
The advertisers said that the established position in the motor and other industries to claim to be the best-selling should be based on the total number of electric vehicle units sold. In this case, they provided monthly figures which showed that the highest number of electric vehicles sold in January 2023 was by Hyundai.
The advertisers said that in January 2023, Hyundai’s electric vehicle sales were 858 units out of a total electric vehicle market of 3,676 units which equated to a 23% market share. Furthermore, they stated that Hyundai had the best and second best-selling electric vehicle models.
In relation to the point raised by the complainant that they were not exclusively an electric vehicle brand, the advertisers said that if the claim about being Ireland’s best-selling electric car brand was limited to brands that only sell EV’s, then Polestar, with sales of 36 electric vehicle units in January 2023, would be the brand permitted to make the claim. The advertisers said that this figure equated to less than a 1% market share, and they believed that this would therefore be far more misleading to consumers.
Conclusion
Statement
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. The Committee considered that, in line with the Code, a statement was
warranted in this case.
The Complaints Committee noted that the claim was that “… Hyundai is the best-selling electric car brand in January 2023 and the Ioniq 5 is now officially Ireland’s best-selling electric car” and that evidence had been provided to show that the highest number of electric vehicles sold in January 2023 was by Hyundai. The Committee also noted the argument by the advertisers that should a claim to be the best-selling electric car brand be limited to manufacturers that only had electric car brands in their portfolio, then it would mislead consumers given those manufacturers’ share of the market.
The Committee were concerned nevertheless with the concept of stating that the main brand was the best-selling electric car brand when it was one of the sub-brands’ that had the electric car models. They considered that, provided it was adequately substantiated, a brand could claim to have a best-selling product, but that significant care was required when attributing a best-selling claim to the main brand.
Action Required:
The Committee advised advertisers to ensure that claims regarding a sub-brand within a product range do not exaggerate the performance of an overall brand.
