The Advertising Standards Agency has banned another advert from a company promising investment returns from cars.
Rosenthal Capital, trading as ULEZProsperity, was investigated by the body for claims made on its website promising “short term high yield returns”.
It is the second time the company, which promotes cars as an investment opportunity, has had a complaint against it upheld this year.
A complainant challenged whether investment return claims made by the company could be substantiated.
The website said customers could rent a vehicle to ULEZProsperity for a fixed monthly return for 37 months.
It said it would provide the vehicles, which comply with the ultra low emission zone in London, to key workers.
In response to the ASA’s investigation, the company said the figures were not speculative and said it did not offer a financial product regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
However, the ASA upheld the complaint.
It highlighted one claim made by the company that people could: “Capitalise on exceptional returns ranging from 21 per cent.”
The website also listed yields from 22.12 to 23.72 per cent based on assets ranging from £20,000 to £30,000.
ULEZProsperity therefore did not provide sufficient evidence to support their investment returns claims
The ASA said: “We considered that consumers would understand the ad to mean that, by purchasing and then renting a vehicle to ULEZProsperity, they could expect to achieve returns from 21 to 23.72 per cent.
“We noted ULEZProsperity’s comment that the return figures were based on fixed monthly rental payments over a defined term, with no fluctuation, and that they were contractually defined and therefore fully substantiated.
“However, the only substantiation ULEZProsperity provided to substantiate the return claims was a customer testimonial and we did not consider that customer endorsements alone constituted adequate substantiation.
“ULEZProsperity therefore did not provide sufficient evidence to support their investment returns claims and we concluded that the claims were misleading and had not been substantiated.”
The company was told to ensure future ads did not quote returns unless they “held adequate evidence to substantiate the claims”.
The ASA also said it should ensure the basis used to calculate any rate of interest, forecast or projection was apparent immediately and to make clear that the value of investments was variable and, unless guaranteed, could go down as well as up.
tara.o’connor@ft.com
What’s your view?
Have your say in the comments section below or email us: ftadviser.newsdesk@ft.com
