Consultation outcome

Automated vehicles: protecting marketing terms

• From: Department for Transport and Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
• Published: 10 June 2025
• Last updated: 7 July 2026 — See all updates

This was published under the 2024 to 2026 Starmer Labour government

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

This consultation has concluded

Read the full outcome

Automated vehicles: protecting marketing terms – consultation outcome

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Detail of outcome

The responses to the consultation showed strong support for protecting certain marketing terms so that they can only be used in connection with vehicles that are:

• authorised or listed as self-driving
• capable of driving themselves safely and legally

Government has made a statutory instrument to protect terms under section 78(1) of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, so that they can only be used legally to describe vehicles that are authorised or listed in this way.

See the Automated Vehicles (Marketing Restrictions) Regulations 2026 for more information.

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Original consultation

Summary

Seeks views on protecting the use of certain terms in vehicle marketing so they can only be used for authorised automated (self-driving) vehicles.

This consultation ran from
10am on 10 June 2025 to 11:59pm on 1 September 2025

Consultation description

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 protects certain terms from being used to market vehicles that have not been authorised as automated vehicles. This will help prevent misunderstanding by ensuring that protected terms are only used when marketing vehicles that meet our self-driving standards.

We are seeking views on which terms should be protected.

View this consultation in Welsh

Documents

Automated vehicles: protecting marketing terms  

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Draft statutory instrument: the Automated Vehicles (Marketing Restrictions) Regulations 2026

PDF, 193 KB, 2 pages

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Published 10 June 2025

Last updated 7 July 2026 — Show all updates

1. 7 July 2026

   Automated vehicles: protecting marketing terms – consultation outcome added.

2. 10 June 2025

   First published.