Citroen ad rapped for emissions claims

Citroen has been criticised by the advertising watchdog for an ad that claimed the company's C4 model was the "lowest in its class" for carbon dioxide emissions.

The Advertising Standards Authority said the claim was misleading, as government statistics put the car in fifth place among "small family" cars, adding that the TV ad should not appear in its present form again.

Euro RSCG, the agency behind the ad, said that models that had outperformed the C4 such as the Toyota Prius were not in the same class of car because they had different types of gearbox and fuel.

Citroen ad: the watchdog ruled that viewers would understand the claim 'the lowest in its class' to refer to a comparison with all small family cars

The ASA acknowledged that if the search were refined by gearbox and fuel type, the C4 did indeed rank lowest for CO2 emissions compared with other small automatic diesel family cars.

However, the watchdog ruled that viewers would understand the claim "the lowest in its class" to refer to a comparison with all small family cars.

The ASA did not uphold a separate complaint that the ad made out the car was more environmentally friendly than it was.

Motor companies are increasingly advertising their products' green credentials, as consumers become more conscious of the environmental costs of driving.

The issue has become particularly sensitive after the European parliament voted last week in favour of tobacco-style warning messages to appear in all car ads.

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