A new complaint with the FTC alleges that Toyota is engaging in false and misleading marketing of its vehicles, leading to consumer confusion over how “electrified” they really are.
Now, Public Citizen, the organization that we talked to for that story, has formally aired its grievances about Toyota’s tactics with the US Federal Trade Commission.
This is just an FTC complaint – the FTC has not yet opened or concluded an investigation. But the claims within the complaint are quite extensive, showing several examples of Toyota using misleading tactics to sow confusion about electric cars in the market.
The complaint lays out the argument that Toyota is far behind on EVs, that this threatens its market dominance and consumer loyalty, and that Toyota’s response has been to intentionally confuse customers about EVs and hybrids. It lays out the differences between EVs, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids, then describes several aspects of Toyota’s marketing of “electrified” vehicles that have intentionally confused those categories of vehicle.
False advertising is a tough claim to prove in the US, but it is still within the FTC’s purview to ensure that consumers are not misled. If a company makes claims that are misleading to reasonable consumers and have a material effect on the competition, the FTC can act to stop the company from making these claims.
Public Citizen alleges that Toyota’s claims are material and deceptive to reasonable consumers. It also argues that Toyota is unique in the amount of deceptive marketing engages in, and that it specifically has violated FTC’s “Green Guides,” a set of marketing guidelines intended to ensure that companies don’t market products as environmentally-friendly when they are not.
The complaint includes several specific advertisements that make Toyota seem like a leader in electric vehicles when it is not. These include:
Images of a hybrid being shocked by a jolt of electricity, despite that conventional hybrids get all of their energy from gasoline.
Images of a gas-powered hybrid driving next to solar panels (which can’t charge it) next to the words “carbon neutral” (which it is not).
Using the word “range” to describe how far a hybrid can go on a tank of gas, instead of mpg as virtually all gas car advertisements do.
A “To Each Their Own Electric” campaign, which includes several vehicles that run exclusively on gasoline.
But the largest number of complaints involve the word “electrified,” which has been used as a weasel word by several manufacturers. It is often used to describe any vehicle that has an electric motor in it, but creates confusion in customers who don’t know the difference between conventional hybrids, that run fully on gasoline, and actual electric vehicles.
Toyota has used this word more than other brands – between claiming that it offers “more electrified vehicles than any other brand,” despite Toyota only having one full battery-electric vehicle; or its “electrified diversified” marketing campaign, suggesting that non-electric vehicles should somehow count as electric. While other brands do use the word in some announcements, they don’t generally craft entire marketing campaigns around it.
The complaint argues that these violations are harmful to the overall EV market, because they have created confusion among consumers and even industry sources, and that this is not a trivial violation because cars are typically the most or second most expensive thing that any person will own.
For these reasons, Public Citizen finishes out the complaint by asking the FTC to investigate Toyota’s marketing and develop specific guidance on EV marketing so that other companies cannot use the same tricks to mislead consumers about their products.
Electrek’s Take
We’ve made it clear many times, we’re not a fan of Toyota’s EV strategy. And a lot of the reason for that is their misleading marketing related to electric cars, which we’ve covered before here on Electrek.
And with a massive company – one of the world’s largest – actively opposing climate action and sowing doubt in an automotive market where it holds outsized influence, I think it’s easy to tell how this can be harmful to the world.
The FTC complaint itself (you can find a PDF of the complaint linked on this page) lists several examples that we hadn’t heard of, and makes Toyota seem pretty bad.
But Toyota’s inaction isn’t just harmful for the entire world, it’s also quite probably going to be harmful for the economy of Japan. Even if we ignore the terrible effects of climate change and pollution that Toyota has thrown its weight behind, its intransigence on EVs is likely to cost the Japanese economy trillions.
Toyota has a new CEO, and that new CEO joined the company on the thinking that he would be able to improve the company’s EV strategy. That hasn’t happened yet, and Toyota is up to its same old tricks – but it doesn’t have to be, and it can change. It’s about time it does so.
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Most Wall Street analysts covering Tesla’s stock (TSLA) badly misread the automaker’s delivery volumes this quarter. Some of them have started releasing notes to clients following Tesla’s production and delivery results.
Here’s what they have to say:
According to Tesla-compiled analyst consensus, the automaker was expected to report “377,592 deliveries” in the first quarter.
Truist Securities maintained its hold rating on Tesla’s stock, but it greatly lowered its price target from $373 to $280 a share. They insist that while their earnings expectations have crashed because they overestimated deliveries, investors should focus on Tesla’s self-driving effort, which they see as “much more important for the long-term value of the stock.”
Goldman Sachs lowered its price target from $320 to $275 a share. The firm expected 375,000 deliveries from Tesla in Q1 and therefore had to adjust its earnings expectations with almost 40,000 fewer deliveries.
Wedbush‘s Dan Ives, one of Tesla’s biggest cheerleaders, called the delivery results “disastrous”, but he reiterated his $550 price target on Tesla’s stock.
UBS has reiterated its $225 price target which it had lowered last month after adjusting its delivery expectations in Q1 to 367,000 – one of the more accurate predictions on Wall Street.
CFRA‘s analyst Garrett Nelson reduced his price target from $385 to $360 a share.
Electrek’s Take
I find it funny that most of them are maintaining or barely changing their expectations after they were so wrong about Tesla in Q1.
If you were so wrong in Q1, you should expect to be incorrect also for the rest of the year, and readjust accordingly.
But Cantor is invested in Tesla, and the firm is owned by Elon’s friend, who happens to now be the secretary of commerce. Truist still believes Elon’s self-driving lies, Goldman Sachs overestimated Tesla’s deliveries by the equivalent of $2 billion in revenues, and Dan Ives is Dan Ives.
Covering Tesla over the last 15 years has confirmed to me that most Wall Street analysts have no idea what they are doing – or at least not when it comes to companies like Tesla.
Do you know any who have been consistently good lately? I’d love suggestions in the comment section below.
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The global market rout on Thursday, sparked by President Donald Trump’s announcement of widespread tariffs, had an outsized effect on fintech companies and credit card issuers that are closely tied to consumer spending and credit.
Affirm, which offers buy now, pay later purchasing options, plunged 19%, while stock trading app Robinhood slid 10% and payments company PayPal fell 8%. American Express and Capital One each tumbled 10%, and Discover was down more than 8%.
President Trump on Wednesday laid out the U.S. “reciprocal tariff” rates that more than 180 countries and territories, including European Union members, will face under his sweeping new trade policy. Trump said his plan will set a 10% baseline tariff across the board, but that number is much higher for some countries.
The announcement sent stocks reeling, wiping out nearly $2 trillion in value from the S&P 500, and pushing the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 6%, its worst day since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The sell-off was especially notable for companies most exposed to consumer spending and global supply chains, including payment providers and lenders. Fintech companies that rely on transaction volume or installment-based lending could see both revenue and credit performance deteriorate.
“When you go down the spectrum, that’s when you have more cyclical risk, more exposure to tariffs,” said Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, citing PayPal and Affirm as businesses at risk. He said bigger companies in the space “are more defensive” and better positioned.
Dan Dolev, an analyst at Mizuho, said bank processors such as Fiserv are less exposed to tariff volatility.
“It’s considered a safe haven,” he said.
Affirm executives have previously said rising prices might increase demand for their products. Chief Financial Officer Rob O’Hare said higher prices could push more consumers toward buy now, pay later services.
“If tariffs result in higher prices for consumers, we’re there to help,” O’Hare said at a Stocktwits fireside chat last month. Affirm CEO Max Levchin has offered similar comments.
However, James Friedman, an analyst at SIG, told CNBC that delinquencies become a concern. He compared Affirm to private-label store cards, and pointed to historical trends in credit performance during downturns, noting that “private label delinquency rates run roughly double” in a recession when compared to traditional credit cards.
“You have to look at who’s overexposed to discretionary,” he said.
Affirm did not provide a comment but pointed to recent remarks from its executives.
Wait, Mazda sells a real EV? It’s only in China for now, but that will change very soon. The first Mazda 6e built for overseas markets rolled off the assembly line Thursday. Mazda’s new EV will arrive in Europe, Southeast Asia, and other overseas markets later this year. This could be the start of something with a new SUV due out next.
Mazda’s new EV rolls off assembly for overseas markets
The Mazda EZ-6 has been on sale in China since October with prices starting as low as 139,800 yuan, or slightly under $20,000.
Earlier this year, Mazda introduced the 6e, the global version of its electric car sold in China. The stylish electric sedan is made by Changan Mazda, Mazda’s joint venture in China.
After the first Mazda 6e model rolled off the production line at the company’s Nanjing Plant, Mazda said it’s ready to “conquer the new era of electrification with China Smart Manufacturing.”
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The new global “6e” model will be built at Changan Mazda’s plant and exported to overseas markets including Europe, Thailand, and other parts of Southeast Asia.
Mazda calls it “both a Chinese car and a global car,” with Changan’s advanced EV tech and Mazda’s signature design.
Mazda 6e electric sedan during European debut (Source: Changan Mazda)
Built on Changan’s hybrid platform, the EZ-6 is offered in China with both electric (EV) and extended-range (EREV) powertrains. The EV version has a CLTC driving range of up to 600 km (372 miles) and can fast charge (30% to 80%) in about 15 minutes.
Mazda’s new EV will be available with two battery options in Europe: 68.8 kWh or 80 kWh. The larger (80 kWh) battery gets up to 552 km (343 miles) WLTP range, while the 68.8 kWh version is rated with up to 479 km (300 miles) range on the WLTP rating scale.
At 4,921 mm long, 1,890 mm wide, and 1,491 mm tall, the Mazda 6e is about the size of a Tesla Model 3 (4,720 mm long, 1,922 mm wide, and 1,441 mm tall).
Mazda said the successful rollout of the 6e kicks off “the official launch of Changan Mazda’s new energy vehicle export center” for global markets.
The company will launch a new SUV next year and plans to introduce a third and fourth new energy vehicle (NEV).
Although prices will be announced closer to launch, Mazda’s global EV will not arrive with the same $20,000 price tag in Europe as it will face tariffs as an export from China. Mazda is expected to launch the 6e later this year in Europe and Southeast Asia. Check back soon for more info.
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