China’s probes into foreign firms spread to the auto sector yesterday, as German car giant Daimler AG said it was assisting authorities after reports that a Shanghai office of its Mercedes-Benz unit was raided.
“We confirm that we are assisting the authorities in their investigation,” Daimler Greater China said in an e-mail.
It is the first confirmation of an official inquiry into a foreign automaker in China, the world’s largest car market, after authorities targeted overseas firms in several sectors over the past year.
Photo: AFP
Nine anti-monopoly investigators from China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) paid a surprise visit to a Mercedes-Benz location in Shanghai on Monday, grilling employees and “forcibly” checking computers, reported Jiemian, a new media platform of state-run Shanghai United Media Group (上海報業集團).
It quoted an unnamed source saying that the investigation focused on “Benz’s prices of finished automobiles and its policy of maintaining minimum prices with distributors.”
The NDRC is one of several Chinese government bodies which investigates violations of the country’s anti-monopoly law. It is responsible for doing so from a pricing perspective.
The Mercedes-Benz office in a western suburb of Shanghai includes a dealership with a showroom and a service center.
Several showroom employees said they were unaware of any investigation.
However, a security guard said the site had been visited by an investigation team two days in a row.
“They were here all day yesterday and three or four hours this morning,” he said.
A sign outside says it is an authorized dealer of Mercedes-Benz China and the Beijing Benz Automotive Co (北京奔馳) — a joint venture between Daimler and Chinese partner, BAIC Motor Co (北京汽車) — that has been producing Mercedes-Benz passenger cars since 2006.
Since last year, China has launched sweeping probes into alleged wrongdoings by foreign companies in several sectors, including the pharmaceutical and baby milk-powder industries.
Last week, a Chinese government agency said it was investigating US software giant Microsoft Corp for allegedly operating a monopoly in its market. The Chinese State Administration for Industry and Commerce, which also enforces the anti-monopoly law, said that probe centers on Microsoft’s Windows operating system and the Office suite of programs.
State media have said China is planning to announce US chip maker Qualcomm Inc has monopoly status in the mobile phone chip market.
Last year, China fined six baby formula producers — all but one of them foreign — a total of US$108 million for price-fixing.
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