According to foreign media reports, the Iowa attorney general's office said on May 24 that Ford would pay $19.2 million to solve the allegations of false advertising** Prosecutors said the company falsely publicized the fuel economy of some hybrid vehicles and the payload capacity of some pickup trucks.
Original title: Ford will pay a fine of 19.2 million US dollars to many US states for false publicity
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The multi state settlement agreement involves 2013-2014 C-MAX hybrid vehicles and 2011-2014 Super Duty pickup trucks. In 2013, Ford reduced the fuel economy rating of the C-MAX hybrid to 7 miles per gallon in an advertisement and paid the owner a check of $550 to make up for the difference in fuel costs.
The settlement with 40 states and the District of Columbia will prohibit Ford from making false or misleading advertising about the fuel economy or payload capacity of new vehicles. Ford did not acknowledge its misconduct, but said it was pleased that the issue "ended without any judicial decision on misconduct. We worked with States to address their concerns and limited additional investigation and legal costs for all parties in the process".
Matthew platkin, acting Attorney General of New Jersey, said Ford exaggerated the distance that a tank of oil can travel to consumers, claiming that the driving mode will not affect the actual fuel economy of the vehicle. The company also said that the actual fuel economy of the company's vehicles is better than that of other hybrid models. Platkin said that Ford released a deceptive advertisement called "hybrid Games", which described the performance of Ford C-MAX better than Toyota Prius in a series of videos, just like the commentary of the Olympic Games. Toyota declined to comment.
The States also alleged that after other trucks overtook Ford, the company used deceptive methods to reassure consumers that its pickup had "the highest level of payload capacity in its class". "The survey found that in calculating the maximum payload capacity of its vehicle, Ford adopted a truck configuration that they did not actually intend to sell to individual buyers, which omitted standard configurations such as spare tires, tires and jacks, radios and the center console (replaced by a mini console)," platkin said
In 2021, Ford recalled nearly 12000 2020 f-350 trucks because their payload values were inaccurate. Ford said a study found that the payload values of these vehicles may have been exaggerated by 78 to 900 pounds.