The European Commission today fined the German-American group DaimlerChrysler €71.8 million for unfair competition in the European distribution of Mercedes cars and trucks.
"When you drive you're expected to know the highway code," said EU Competition Commissioner Mr Mario Monti. "That's the message of this decision," he said, adding that DaimlerChrysler had broken "fundamental rules of competition".
The fine, he said, was the third largest ever imposed by the commission on an industrial producer.
"This is an area where the law is perfectly clear," said Monti. "Practices like the ones that Daimler-Chrysler indulged in are...unacceptable and must be remanded heavily."
"A new car is an expensive purchase and consumers pay attention to prices," he said. "The commission is determined to ensure that they benefit from competition at retail level and get a good deal.
"Consumers strongly and rightfully criticize the functioning of the single market if they are unable to find an official distributor which is willing to supply them, or if they are discriminated against in relation to nation customers," said Mr Monti.
He referred to one of DaimlerChryslers' competition transgressions, that of instructing its dealers to oblige foreign consumers to pay a deposit of 15 per cent to DaimlerChrysler when ordering a car in Germany.
The heavy fined was intended to have "a sufficient deterrent effect on DaimlerChrysler and other companies," he said.
AFP