A BMW dealership in Northampton, England, is the latest to refuse to sell used cars to non-UK residents, thereby preventing most private Irish buyers from purchasing cars from them for import. Wollaston BMW, an official BMW franchise, said it would not permit used cars to leave its forecourt without change of ownership documents being completed in the UK through a UK address.
It follows last week’s confirmation by Mercedes UK that it has also prohibited sales to non-UK residents at the nine dealerships within its group. Despite the restrictions, an EU Commission spokeswoman told The Irish Times she does not believe the policies contradict EU competition law.
Stephen Hall, Wollaston’s used car manager, said its decision was due to the potential risk of fraud. He said in the case of customers from outside the UK, the firm would have difficulty pursuing them if there was a problem with payments. He cited a case two years ago where a customer in Scotland purchased a car from Wollaston with a false credit card, which he said was the primary reason it introduced the policy.
He also said that sales to customers outside the locality meant they were unlikely to get any follow-on business from a customer so far away. But he added that the firm would still sell to customers in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Dealer principal William LeFevre later said he would only sell to Irish buyers if they had a UK address, or sent a transporter to collect the car on full payment.
A reader who contacted this newspaper said that when he contacted Wollaston BMW three weeks ago about a used 520d advertised on their website, he was told that they would no longer sell to Irish residents.
A spokesman for BMW UK said it was not company policy to decline Irish customers.
The news follows confirmation last week that Mercedes UK is implementing a similar policy of not selling used cars to non-UK residents in its nine wholly-owned dealerships. The policy does not apply to independently-owned Mercedes franchise dealers.
A spokeswoman for the EU Commission said that while it can act under competition law when a company gives instructions to an independent party and that party agrees to do something that restricts competition, the legal position is different when such a policy is applied internally in a business.
“We can regret it, but cannot attack it under competition rules. Consumers should broaden their choice of brands and vote with their feet,” she said.
Dermot Jewell, chief executive of the Consumer Association of Ireland, said he was referring the restrictions to both the Consumer and Health Directorate and Competition Directorate within the EU Commission. “These moves need to be challenged,” he said.
“Even on a basic principal of business, it seems extremely odd that businesses involved in retail would rule out potential sales. It needs to be challenged and certainly requires further investigation.”