Dealerships Toyota, Hyundai and Opel fined in Spain for price-fixing

The Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia has imposed fines totalling €9 million on 45 dealerships of the brands Toyota, Hyundai and Opel operating in the Madrid and Galicia regions. The penalties are due to the implementation of agreements to fix prices, maximum discounts and the exchange of sensitive information concerning several models.

According to the Competition investigation, the eleven Toyota centres adopted their agreements in the strictest secrecy and hired a third party to verify compliance with them. These activities, prohibited by the Competition Law, were carried out between November 2012 and June 2013.

In the case of the Hyundai and Opel dealerships, the penalties relate to the setting of maximum discounts and the exchange of sensitive information, during the period from 2011 to June 2013, restricting competition in the market for the distribution of vehicles to private buyers and SMEs.

According to the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia, the fined car sales centres had the services of a company specialising in customer service and market research, ANT Servicalidad, to verify compliance with the anticompetitive agreements adopted by those dealerships.

Faconauto, the dealers’ trade association, has come to their defence, arguing that there are no illicit practices in car distribution, and that the Spanish economy’s sector with the greatest competition between brands is, and that the 8.5% drop in car prices reflects the state of the sector.

The largest fines fall on the dealerships Seligrat de Automoción, Roauto, Agrogil, Motor Gamboa, Cobendai, Motor Leyva and Talleres Prizán, with a total amount of more than €4 million.

Source | Expansión