“Quadricycles not 100% eco”: the Antitrust recalls these two companies for misleading advertising

Green but not exactly: the sustainability of cars is too often advertised on sites, but it almost never corresponds to reality. They are the so-called green claimpractices for which we aim to slogans that promise zero impact or ecological solutions but which actually only involve greenwashing.

This is the case of Campello SpA and Microlino Italia Srl, the companies that market the XEV Yoyo and Microlino quadricycles, which the Competition and Market Guarantor Authority has just recalled for some advertising messages aimed at enhancing the sustainability of these cars but not sufficiently contextualized and without indication of the phase of the life cycle of the product to which they referred.

In particular, on websites www.xevcars.it And www.microlino-car.com there were green claims relating to the absence of emissions or impact on the environment or the total environmental sustainability of these vehicles “completely absolute and generic (e.g. “100% sustainable”, “100% Green”, “Zero emissions”, “Zero impact on the environment”, “ECO”)“.

Furthermore, it was not indicated which aspect or phase of the product life cycle they referred to (such as for example the production of the vehicle and batteries, distribution, use, disposal of the vehicle and batteries).

The companies, following the Authority’s activity, removed profiles of possible incorrectness from the messages used to advertise the XEV YOYO and Microlino cars.