Nissan Taiwan Ltd.

Case:

Key Words:

car advertisement, airbag, operating condition limitation

Reference:

Fair Trade Commission decision of May 22, 2012 (at the 1072nd Commissioners' Meeting), Disposition Kung-Ch'u-Tzu No. 101059

Industry:

Retail Sales of Automobiles in Specialized Stores (4841)

Relevant Laws:

Paragraph 1 of Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. The FTC received complaints from general citizens that the advertisement posted by Nissan Taiwan Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Nissan Taiwan) and Yu Chang Motor Co., Ltd. for the Rogue SUV indicated the passive safety of the vehicle included 6 advanced SRS airbags to ensure maximum safety for the driver and the passengers. However, people who had purchased the SUV discovered that the function of the airbag for the front passenger seat would shut off automatically when the weight of the passenger was not heavy enough. There was no related warning in the advertisement and most Rogue owners had not been told of the limitation before making the purchase. The fact that not all of the 6 airbags could function under all kinds of circumstances was obviously inconsistent with the content of the passive safety devices advertised. The advertisement was false.
2. The advertisement in question had been funded by Nissan Taiwan alone, produced and given to the dealerships for distribution. As the sales of the said model did bring profits, it was reasonable to consider that Nissan Taiwan was the advertiser in this case. Yu Chang Motor Co., Ltd. did distribute the said advertisement yet it had not had any say in the decision of the content of the advertisement. Therefore, it was difficult to deem Yu Chang Motor Co., Ltd. the advertiser of the said advertisement.
3. The said advertisement contained the wording of "Safety Shield concept," "With a forward-looking all-around safety shield concept, Nissan has come up with the pioneering idea that 'a car should be able to protect the safety of the drive and the passengers' and provide various effective measures to guard the driver and the passengers from any possible danger whether potential or in a collision," and "Standard equipment of 6 advanced SRS airbags – 2 front and 2 side airbags for the front seats as well as 2 curtain airbags on both side – provided as a result of Nissan's highest uncompromising safety standard for the maximum safety of the people in the vehicle; the inflation of the 2-stage airbags for the front seats is automatically adjusted according to the level of impact and whether the riders are wearing the seatbelt." This gave consumers the impression that there were 6 airbags that would function normally in a car crash and open up to protect the riders.
4. Nissan Taiwan admitted that a passenger sensor (pressure sensor) had been installed under the front passenger seat to meet the US federal car safety standard regulations. When there was no one sitting in the front seat, the posture of the passenger was incorrect, the passenger was not heavy enough, a child was sitting there, or a child safety seat was used, the airbag in front would be shut off automatically as a result of the pressure sensor's detection. Therefore, it was possible that the airbag in question could be shut off as mentioned earlier. However, as the possibility of the airbag in question not opening up to provide protection during a collision, the equipment of the airbag was pointless and consumers would naturally find the claim in the advertisement that the vehicle came with 6 SRS airbags was obviously questionable and likely to lead to mistaken perceptions and decisions. The FTC decided that the advertisement was a misleading representation in violation of Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law and therefore acted according to the first section of Paragraph 1, Article 41 of the same law, imposed an administrative fine of NT$750,000 on Nissan Taiwan, and also ordered the company to immediately cease the false, untrue, and misleading representation.

Summarized by Ho, Yen-Jung; Supervised by Yang, Hsiu-Yun

Appendix:
Nissan Taiwan Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 80032530