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Car makers to be forced to disclaim ‘Official’ economy figures

We’ve banged on for a long time about the futility of official economy figures, especially as car makers get better and better at ‘gaming’ the official economy tests to produce the results they want. Much of the impetus to create the best headline economy figure for a car is driven by taxation, with car makers well aware that the better the official economy results are, the lower their CO2 will be (CO2 isn’t tested for – it’s just extrapolated from the official mpg) and the more appealing the car will be to buyers, particularly fleet buyers. But a ruling by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) against Audi could at least see car makers having to admit in their adverts that the ‘official’ economy figure bears no relation to what owners can expect to achieve in the real world.

Infiniti goes back to the Q

Infiniti will completely rename its product portfolio next summer, returning to the letter “Q” from the brand's early history for every car, and “QX” for every Infiniti crossover and SUV. The company is undertaking the change to prepare for a broader array of future products around the world, says Johan de Nysschen, worldwide president of the brand. Infiniti's current lineup of sedans will become the Q50, Q60 and Q70.

Hyundai adds Fox Marketing Veloster to SEMA display

Hyundai continued its SEMA effort on Wednesday with the most powerful street-focused Veloster Turbo yet. It will be on display in Las Vegas, Nov. 5-8.