The Italian Antitrust Authority said
on Friday that it has opened four probes into BYD Industria
Italia s.r.l., Stellantis Europe S.p.A., Tesla Italy s.r.l. and
Volkswagen Group Italia S.p.A. over possible unfair commercial
practices.
The investigations concern information provided to consumers
regarding the driving range of electrical vehicles, battery
capacity degradation and operational limits on standard battery
warranties, which could have breached the Consumer Code, the
agency said in a statement.
"In particular, the companies' websites appear to have displayed
generic - and at times contradictory - information regarding the
driving range of their marketed electric vehicles, without
clarifying which factors impact the advertised maximum range and
the extent to which they affect the actual range", the authority
said in a statement.
"Moreover, it seems that the companies' websites failed to
provide consumers with clear and complete information on battery
capacity degradation resulting from normal vehicle use, and on
the terms/limitations applied to the standard battery warranty",
it added.
The Antitrust also explained that it carried out inspections on
Thursday at the Italian headquarters of the four automakers,
aided by the finance police's special antitrust unit.
The current legislation provides for fines of up to 10 million
euros for companies breaching consumer rights rules.
Stellantis Europe said in a note that it was fully cooperating
with the authority's personnel and had provided the necessary
answers, information and documentation regarding the
investigation.
It added that it was convinced that it had provided "adequate,
precise and exhaustive answers" to officials in Turin and that
it will continue to cooperate in the investigation.
"Stellantis places the needs and satisfaction of its customers
at the centre of all its activities and believes that the
ongoing investigation will be able to confirm this
circumstance".
Meanwhile consumer groups praised the probes and said they were
ready to take legal action.
"Information given to consumers on electric cars, charging, the
autonomy of batteries and the driving range too often are not
very transparent if not misleading", said consumer group
Codacons.
The organization went on to say that the lack of transparency
regarded key aspects of a vehicle that could alter consumers'
choices "creating a clear economic damage".
It added that, "for this reason, we consider the Antitrust's
probes fundamental and, if illicit actions and irregularities
will be ascertained, we are ready to take action to demand
compensation for the owners of the vehicles involved, who were
induced to buy electric cars based on false information".
Another consumer group, Udicon, said misleading information on
electric vehicles could "damage the entire sector".
"We can't accept that citizens discover only after having
purchased it that their electric vehicle does not respond to the
publicized expectations", it continued, asking the authority to
shed "full light on potential unfair practices and to producers
to pledge to guarantee the utmost transparency".
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