Ford to Pay $19.2 Million to States Over False Advertising Claims

The EPA’s 47 mpg estimates were being provided by Ford and dependent on the Fusion Hybrid. In our checks, the Toyota Prius at the time acquired 44 mpg all round, far extra than the C-Max. 

“We install fuel meters in each and every automobile we take a look at to evaluate actual fuel consumption on selected town and highway classes. When we noticed the large shortfall, we quickly contacted Ford and the EPA with our results,” says Jake Fisher, senior director of auto tests at Customer Reviews. “We go on to publish our results of over 50 exams not only to inform consumers but also to discourage automakers from creating unrealistic statements.”

EPA guidelines specified that if two cars and trucks use the identical motor and transmission, and slide into the very same pounds course, automakers have the discretion to use the exact exam effects for equally, even if they test only one of them. The Fusion Hybrid and the C-Max use the same motor, transmission, and electrical drive, and their weights fall in just 35 kilos of every single other. But in contrast to other cars that share an EPA fuel-overall economy ranking, the two vehicles aren’t remotely the similar dimension or shape, nor do they even share platforms.

A Ford spokesperson mentioned in a assertion to CR: “Ford follows EPA rules, ideal industry regulatory bodies, and our individual robust specifications for gas-financial state labels and promoting. Our auto effectiveness claims are trusted and can be trusted by people.”

And that was correct, but the corporation found a loophole significant plenty of to generate a hybrid by way of.

In 2013, Customer Stories found six other tested pairs of vehicles that healthy the EPA circumstances for sharing gas economy figures from Chevrolet, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen. In no other circumstance was there a related discrepancy. And amongst 315 cars tested at the time, CR observed that most got in 1 to 2 mpg of their EPA estimates. 

Known as out above the discrepancy between marketing and serious-globe general performance, Ford retested the C-Max and downgraded its gasoline-financial state ratings to 40 mpg total. 

It then produced hardware updates for new styles, such as a increased last gear ratio, lower-viscosity motor oil, and aerodynamic improvements, such as a rear spoiler, new hood seals, and air deflectors in front of the tires, and a better velocity threshold for the electrical drive. The new mpg figures had been 39 mpg combined for 2014 by means of 2016 (41 town, 36 freeway). 

To make amends, the enterprise designed “goodwill payments” to about 200,000 prospects to compensate them for excess fuel prices: $550 to entrepreneurs and $325 to lessees.

This situation underscores why Client Reports goes to great lengths to examination the gas economic climate of every single nonelectric motor vehicle we invest in. It gives practical, goal, unbiased details for car purchasers and helps hold the vehicle marketplace trustworthy.