UK car dealer group Reg Vardy has agreed to make its credit advertising more transparent for consumers, following a showdown with the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
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Newspaper adverts for Sunderland-based Vardy were considered to be misleading by the OFT.
The advertisements offered finance on cars, but breached regulations by giving more than one typical APR and failing to state the correct typical APR with sufficient prominence when required, the office ruled.
The OFT said that Vardy’s ads did not give the highest APR at which loans were available, did not include all items of financial information relevant to the credit offered and failed to give the name of the advertiser.
Vardy gave the OFT written assurance that their advertising would be compliant in future.
Alan Williams, senior director of markets and projects at the OFT, said: “The OFT welcomes the action taken by Reg Vardy in making its credit advertising more transparent to consumers.
“The regulations governing credit advertisements are designed to ensure that consumers receive essential information about the true costs of the loans on offer. It is important that businesses comply with these requirements when drawing up their advertising.”
Vardy, which was acquired by Pendragon in February 2006 for GBP506m (US$997.9m), was also in the OFT’s eye in August, though it eventually decided not to refer the acquisition to the competition commission.
A Vardy spokesman could not be reached for comment.
