Competition authority fined 21 CNMC of Spain automakers and two consultancies € 171 million ($ 188 million) for anticompetitive practices.
The largest individual fines were € 22.8 million to General Motors and 20.2 million euros for automakers Ford Motor Co. French received the next highest penalties Renault fined 18.2 million, 15.7 million Peugeot and Citroen 14.8 million.
CNMC said automakers behave like a cartel by sharing sensitive data on car sales, repairs, maintenance activities and car parts. The information exchanged includes details of price incentives to avoid a war discounting for new car sales, according to Spanish media reports.
This is the largest fine imposed by the CNMC, which launched a series of investigations into the motor trade in Spain in 2013. To date, these 124 companies have participated. Last March 45 CNMC fined Toyota, Hyundai and Opel dealers to create a price cartel in Madrid and Galicia. It has recently launched an investigation into the Volvo dealerships.
Automakers have two months to lodge an appeal against the sentence and fines. CNMC imposed fines on the basis of the annual income of the companies and the severity of their anti-competitive practices.
VW, Seat escape punishment
Volkswagen and its subsidiaries, including its Spanish brand Seat, will not be fined for the help they gave to the investigation.
The investigation began after a joint complaint Seat and Volkswagen. Although a participant in the activities now considered anti-competitive, Seat identified the problem in the first place and helped the competition authority to find proof of collusion. If it had been fined, Seat would have faced a penalty of € 39,440,000.
ANFAC Industry Association said that there is strong competition among automakers in Spain.
"There should be no doubt about fair competition in this industry," he said in a press release. He argued that, unlike the telecommunications sector, which is controlled by just three companies, the ten largest brands control less than 70 percent of the Spanish car market.
It also claimed that a 15 percent drop in car prices in the past six years showed that the agreements concluded by the companies had not harmed the interests of consumers.
ANFAC also referred to the conclusion of a study by the Spanish consumer organization OC. This meant that car prices in Spain "are definitely liberal" with price variations of up to 30 percent available, depending on the brand and dealer.
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