Tesla Sues California DMV to Reverse Deceptive Advertising Ruling After It Banned the Term ‘Autopilot’
According to Tesla, the California Department of Motor Vehicles “wrongfully” labeled the company a deceptive advertiser because of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving claims. The automaker is now suing the California DMV in an attempt to reverse the ruling.
In December, a California administrative law judge ruled that Tesla was deceptive in the marketing of its vehicles’ Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems. As a result, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) said Tesla could have its licenses to sell and manufacture cars in the state suspended if it didn’t fix its marketing issues within 60 days.
Last week, Tesla agreed to change the names of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features in California. However, Tesla’s lawyers argued that no reasonable buyer would ever think a Tesla could drive itself, even though that is exactly what those terms mean.
Tesla doesn’t want consumers to view it as a ‘false advertiser’
Now, the automaker has filed a complaint alleging that the California DMV “wrongfully and baselessly” labeled Tesla a “false advertiser.” Calling the DMV’s order “factually wrong” and “unconstitutional,” Tesla wants the judge’s ruling that Tesla was deceptive in its advertising thrown out.
Tesla claims it is “impossible” to purchase their vehicles without seeing “clear and repeated statements” that its technologies aren’t fully autonomous. Tesla also claims the DMV never demonstrated that its marketing confused consumers.
In its argument, the DMV pointed out that Tesla “vehicles equipped with those ADAS features could not, at the time of those advertisements, and cannot now, operate as autonomous vehicles.”
“A reasonable consumer likely would believe that a vehicle with Full Self-Driving Capability can travel safely without a human driver’s constant, undivided attention,” the judge wrote in the order. “This belief is wrong — both as a technological matter and as a legal matter — which makes the name Full Self-Driving Capability misleading.”
Tesla’s defense is loaded with contradictions
The automaker also claimed in its defense that the DMV had known about its use of the term “Autopilot” since 2014 and “Full Self-Driving” since 2016 and had done nothing about it. An interesting defense, to be sure. By using it, the company all but admits it was using misleading terms, but since authorities didn’t legally stop them from doing so for years, they should still be allowed to do so.
The company claimed it “relied upon [the DMV’s] implicit approval of these brand names” and “the DMV chose not to take any action against Tesla or otherwise communicate to Tesla that its advertising or use of these brand names was or might be problematic.”
Tesla’s lawsuit against the California DMV also comes at a time when a federal judge denied the automaker’s attempt to overturn a $243 million jury decision related to a deadly 2019 Autopilot crash in Florida.
