Germany has banned Tesla from repeating what a court says are “misleading” advertising statements relating to the capabilities of the firm’s driver assistance systems and to autonomous driving, a Munich court ruled on Tuesday.
The case was brought by Germany’s Wettbewerbszentrale, an industry sponsored body tasked with policing anti-competitive practices in a variety of sectors, including the automotive industry, healthcare and the food and beverage industry.
The Munich court agreed with Wettbewerbszentrale’s assessment and banned electric automaker Tesla from including “full potential for autonomous driving” and “Autopilot inclusive” in its German advertising materials.
The court ruled that Tesla’s advertising is misleading and that the average buyer might be giving the impression that Tesla’s Autopilot system can safely operate the car without human intervention. The court also believes that the ads suggest that such systems are now legal on Germany’s roads.
Tesla’s autopilot system has also drawn criticism from U.S. regulators as well. The use of Tesla’s Autopilot has sparked several high-profile investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) after fatalities resulted from crashes involving Tesla vehicles operating using the automated driving feature on the highway.
