Mercedes fined £38m for breach of Chinese anti-monopoly laws
MERCEDES-BENZ was yesterday fined £37.6m after a Chinese regulator found the car maker had breached anti-trust laws.
The National Development and Reform Commission of the eastern Jiangsu province said the company had been issuing pricing instructions to car dealers between January 2013 and July 2014.
The regulator said this was in violation of anti-monopoly laws and harmed consumer rights.
“The investigation found Mercedes-Benz and its dealers in Jiangsu came to and carried out monopoly agreements to cap the lowest sales prices,” the Jiangsu pricing regulator said in a statement.
Mercedes accepted the fine and reassured the regulator it would take its responsibilities under the Chinese competition law “very seriously”, adding it will take appropriate steps to ensure full compliance with the law in the future.