In 2023, Mercedes in Denmark was reported to the police for so-called 'greenwashing'. It now costs the Danish importer a million bode.
The Consumer Ombudsman has issued a fine of one million kroner to Mercedes-Benz Denmark for misleading marketing of their electric cars.
In the period September 2021 to January 2022, the car brand used statements such as "certified environmentally friendly" and "the green revolution" in their marketing in Denmark.
These statements gave consumers a false impression of the cars' environmental impact.
The Consumer Ombudsman assessed that the statements "the green revolution" and "Mercedes-Benz begins CO2-neutral production" could lead consumers to believe that the electric cars were less harmful to the environment than they really are.
This is what the Consumer Ombudsman writes in a press release on Thursday this week.
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Furthermore, the statement "certified environmentally friendly" created a misleading perception that the cars had achieved some kind of environmental certification. Which was not the case.
Mercedes-Benz Denmark has since explained that the use of the word "certified" was due to a translation error. An error which was later corrected when the importer became aware of it.
The Consumer Ombudsman emphasizes the importance of correct information in the marketing of climate and environmental measures. Consumers must not be misled into believing that measures have a greater effect than they really do.
This case once again raises the question of whether car brands take responsibility for the information they send out to motorists.
It was a similar case from August last year that ended up bringing down the Danish BMW importer. The Germans claimed, among other things, that they 'were the world's most sustainable car brand'. But BMW has never been able to prove that, the Consumer Ombudsman said.
Illegal market lining is usually punished with a fine. BMW in Denmark is definitely not the only importer that the consumer ombudsman has caught. In September 2022, Ford in Denmark was fined DKK 200,000 for hidden advertising. Read more about it here .
