Michelin North America has agreed to pay 17 states a total of $375,000 to settle an investigation into advertising claims last year that its tires could save drivers money because they were fuel efficient, officials said Thursday.
The settlement also requires the Greenville, S.C.,-based company to have reliable scientific evidence to support any future marketing claims, according Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper, who led the states' investigation.
Michelin officials said they provided test data demonstrating that its tires were the most fuel efficient in most of 37 categories of tires and will make only minor changes to its advertising claims.
Scott Clark, chief operating officer of Michelin Americas Small Tires, said the only complaint they received regarding the ads came from a competitor — Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations.
"The results of that investigation that was done reinforces the point that tires do make a significant difference in terms of fuel efficiency," Clark said.
The investigation started last year, when Michelin advertised fuel savings associated with its tires. The ads appeared in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today and aired on ESPN.
The attorneys general alleged that the claims of savings were based solely on fuel costs, not on the comparative costs of competing tires, and that the ads didn't mention that consumers may save more money by buying a cheaper tire. The investigation did not question the safety or quality of Michelin tires.
Sharon Curtis-Flair, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee attorney general, said the investigation started based on a consumer complaint, not a complaint by Bridgestone.
Michelin said it decided to settle with the attorneys general to save time and money and that its modified advertising will be rolled out on Friday.
The states in the agreement are Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont.
On the Net:
Michelin: http://www.michelin-us.com/
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