The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK received a complaint from a consumer who had bought Audi A3 1.6 TDi model, but found they were unable to achieve similar fuel economy.

The complaint about the Audi UK advert stated: “The A3 1.6 TDI is the most fuel-efficient Audi ever returning a quite remarkable 68.9mpg on a combined cycle”. It ruled the advert was misleading.

The ASA stated: “We considered that it was unlikely to be clear to the average consumer that the figure quoted was based on a standardised test and was not necessarily representative of what they would achieve when driving the car themselves.

“For that reason we considered that VW should have qualified the figure to make clear to readers that it was based on an EU test for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results.”

The ASA has warned carmakers to ensure they stipulate that mpg figures are from official European tests, and may not reflect real driving results, to avoid misleading consumers.