Carmaker Mercedes-Benz has been found guilty of manipulating
the price of spare parts following an investigation by the authorities in
China.
The official Xinhua News Agency reports that regulators said
the luxury unit of Germany's Daimler abused its control over supplies of
replacement parts.
The report made no mention of the likely penalty.
BMW, Audi and Chrysler are also facing sanctions as part of
an anti-monopoly crackdown by the authorities.
Overseas companies in the pharmaceuticals, technology and
food sector have also faced investigation in recent months.
Last week, the European Chamber of Commerce in China said
its members were "increasingly considering the question" of whether
foreign companies were being disproportionately targeted.
Scrutiny
According to the Xinhua report, investigators from the
anti-monopoly bureau of the eastern province of Jiangsu found prices were so
high that purchasing the parts used to make one Mercedes C-class car would cost
the equivalent of buying 12 vehicles.
"Mercedes-Benz is a typical case of vertical price
fixing - that is, the use of its dominant position in after-market parts to
maintain price controls," said Zhou Gao, chief of the Jiangsu's
anti-monopoly unit, according to Xinhua.
A Daimler spokesperson said on Monday that the company was
still "assisting" Chinese authorities, but was "unable to
comment further on what is still an on-going matter".
Toyota has said that its Lexus division is under scrutiny,
and General Motors has said that its main China joint venture has responded to
requests by regulators for information.
Other companies under investigation include Qualcomm, a US
maker of microchips used in mobile phones, and software giant Microsoft.
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