5:27 pm, March 1, 2017
THE Advertising Standards Authority has rejected a complaint against Glyn Hopkin and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles UK over an alleged misrepresentation of two Alfa Romeos.
The complaint was made about two adverts for Giulietta vehicles, similar to the one pictured, in Chelmsford and Romford that appeared on the usedcars.alfaromeo.co.uk website on May 13, 2016. The complainant said they understood the two vehicles to be ex-fleet and challenged whether the adverts omitted information that could have affected their pricing – specifically, whether the cars would have had multiple users.
In response, Glyn Hopkin stated that it was an approved Alfa Romeo dealer and had posted the advertisements by using the template provided by the site, which is owned by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles UK (FCA). The dealer group stated that vehicles could not be bought directly from the website and that consumers would be referred to the dealer selling them from the contact details provided, who would then give consumers the information they required to make an informed decision before making a purchase.
The group also said that it could only provide the information accepted by the template, that defleeted vehicles did not necessarily have multiple drivers and previous usage could not be categorically defined.
FCA said that its records for the cars showed that one vehicle was used by a self-employed FCA contractor to provide technical training on the car and the other was used by a member of its own staff, so neither had had multiple users.
The brand further stated that all vehicles advertised by dealers on the website benefited from an Alfa Romeo-approved used car warranty and would also have undergone a multi-point check. This assured consumers that whether a vehicle had been used for private or business use, the same warranty and quality checks had been applied.
As the advertisements weren’t marketing ex-fleet vehicles that had been used by multiple drivers, the ASA said it considered that no material information was omitted. It concluded that the adverts were not misleading and did not uphold the complaint, and said no further action was needed.
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