Thatcham Research has come out in strong support of a court ruling in Germany that found the term “Autopilot” as used in connection to Tesla vehicles is both misleading and exaggerated.

Matthew Avery, Thatcahm research director, said, “Autopilot is not a self-driving system. It is there to provide driver assistance, not become an invisible chauffeur. We support the German competition commission’s ruling. Naming is key, and Autopilot is an especially misleading term.”

The comments come after a court in Munich found that Tesla’s use of the Autopilot term is misleading and exaggerated. The case was taken against Tesla by the Wettbewerbszentrale, a German self-regulatory watchdog that works to enforce the law against unfair competition.

The court found that using the term “Autopilot” together with certain aspects of the company advertising, could lead drivers to believe, “vehicles are technically able to drive completely autonomously”. The court stated that what was being referred to was a driver assistance system in which a journey is not possible without human intervention.

Tesla has now been prohibited from making such claims in the German market.

Matthew Avery added, “The outcomes of driver over-reliance on the Autopilot system can be catastrophic. Reports of accidents with Autopilot engaged have become all too familiar. Many are fatal and we don’t know if drivers were “taking a chance” or worse still, literally believing their Autopilot system was fully capable of driving the car itself.”