Undertaking date

Undertaking type

s.87B undertaking

Reference number

D13/17056

Company or individual details

  • Name

    Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited

    ACN

    009 686 097

Undertaking

Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited (ACN 009 686 097) (Toyota Australia) is an Australian manufacturer, distributor and exporter of motor vehicles. The ACCC investigated allegations of misleading and deceptive conduct by Toyota Australia in relation to the use of descriptions including the expressions 'leather’, ‘all leather', 'leather accent' and 'leather accented' in advertising and promotional materials.

In response to the ACCC's investigation, Toyota Australia:

  • admitted that it may have engaged in conduct that was misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive, in contravention of sections 52, 53(a) and/or 55 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 in relation to the use from about 2005 to 2009 of descriptions of:
    • vehicle interior upholstery as 'leather' or 'all leather' when in fact the upholstery was only partially leather; and
    • the upholstery of particular interior components as 'leather' when in a number of cases the upholstery was not leather or was partially leather
  • acknowledged the ACCC's concerns that, following the adoption of the expressions 'leather accents' and 'leather accented' in advertising, from about 2009 a number of Toyota dealerships represented to consumers that the entire upholstery of certain vehicle interiors, or of certain interior components, were made of leather when at least some were not, in breach of the above provisions (or of the  equivalent provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 for conduct engaged in after 1 January 2011).

To address the ACCC's concerns, Toyota Australia provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking that it will:

  • Not use the word 'leather' (without the word 'accents' or 'accented') in advertising unless it is able to demonstrate that the component is entirely upholstered in leather and has no synthetic upholstery content
  • Not use 'leather accents' or 'leather accented' in advertising unless details of the leather, partial leather and non-leather interior components have been provided on the Toyota Australia website within a certain  time frame
  • Publish a corrective notice
  • Implement a supplementary compliance program.

Relevant provisions: ss 52, 53(a), 55 of the Trade Practices Act 1974; ss 18(29(1)(a), 33 of the Australian Consumer Law, which consists of Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010