Sourcing
We prefer primary documents: regulations, standards, government test procedures, court filings, and corporate disclosures. Where an article relies on a document, the article links to it.
Named sources are preferred and unnamed sources are used only when the information cannot be obtained another way and the source has direct knowledge. The editor who approves an anonymous source knows their identity. We do not publish claims from anonymous sources about a specific company's unannounced product unless at least one corroborating piece of evidence exists.
Labelling certainty
The car business runs on plans that change. We use explicit language to mark confidence:
- Reported — we have evidence, and we describe what it is.
- Expected — the evidence supports an inference, and we say what it rests on.
- Speculation — reasoning without direct evidence. Labelled as such, and rare.
We do not present a prototype photograph as confirmation of a final design, a name, or a launch date. The reasons are set out inthis piece.
Use of automation
We use software, including language models, for research assistance, transcription, and copy-editing. We do not publish machine-generated articles as reporting, and every published piece has a named human editor accountable for its accuracy.
No article is generated from another publication's text. AutoCar does not scrape, rewrite, or syndicate third-party articles.
Corrections
If we publish something wrong, we fix it and say so. The process:
- Reports go to universeecar@gmail.com with the article URL and the disputed claim.
- An editor reviews the claim against the original sourcing, normally within two business days.
- If the claim is wrong, the article is corrected. Material corrections carry a dated note at the foot of the piece describing what changed.
- If the claim stands, we reply explaining the sourcing. Where a reader's challenge is reasonable but the evidence is ambiguous, we add the qualification to the article.
Minor fixes — a typo, a broken link, a style change — are made silently. Anything that changes the meaning of a sentence is disclosed.
Independence and advertising
AutoCar is funded by display advertising sold programmatically through Google AdSense. Advertising is labelled, visually separated from editorial, and never placed inside article text without a label.
We do not accept payment for coverage, do not publish sponsored posts presented as editorial, and do not sell links. No advertiser reviews an article before publication, and no advertising relationship affects what we report.
Where an article mentions a company we cover, that is because the company is relevant to the story, not because of a commercial relationship.
Ownership
AutoCar is published by AutoCar Media. [Add the legal entity, registration number, and jurisdiction here before launch — readers and reviewers should be able to identify who is responsible for the publication.]
Review
This policy is reviewed at least annually, and whenever our publishing process changes. The review date appears at the top of this page.