BMW AG is being scrutinized by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its sales reporting practices, months after the regulator extracted a penalty from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV over similar issues.
The German automaker has been contacted by the SEC and would cooperate fully with its investigation, BMW spokesman Phil DiIanni said by telephone.
The agency does not comment on the existence of any probes, SEC spokesman Kevin Callahan said.
BMW has been in a tight race with Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz for leadership of the US luxury auto market.
While Mercedes has owned bragging rights the past three years, BMW leads by less than 3,300 units this year through November.
Bernhard Kuhnt, who took over as president and chief executive of BMW’s North America business in early 2017, has reinvigorated sales by rolling out an onslaught of new sport utility vehicles.
Dealers have in the past criticized BMW for pressuring them to buy vehicles from the manufacturer to stock their fleet of vehicles loaned out to customers who are having their vehicles serviced. Bloomberg News reported on bonuses or allowances the company paid to dealers in late 2015 and mid-2012 that helped inflate sales results.
Dealers are required to mark the vehicles as sold. To re-sell them to consumers as used models, they typically have to do so at depressed prices. In the meantime, the retailers also have to foot the costs of carrying the vehicles in inventory.
Fiat Chrysler in September agreed to pay a US$40 million penalty related to years of sales reports the SEC said were fraudulent.
The Italian-American automaker misled investors by wrongly claiming a years-long streak of monthly gains and inflated results by paying dealers to report fake sales, the agency said.
The practices came to light after a dealer lawsuit filed in January 2016.
BMW’s American depositary receipts dropped 1.3 percent to US$26.96 in New York trading on Monday.
The Wall Street Journal had reported on the SEC’s investigation of BMW earlier in the day.
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