The allegations of antitrust-relevant collusion, the EU investigators now go directly to Daimler and VW. They examine documents of the car companies – as before at BMW.
Mercedes E coupe
Monday, 23.10.2017
6:00 pm
Investigations by the EU Commission regarding cartel allegations against German carmakers are gaining momentum. After last week already BMW had visit by investigators, competitive opponents also joined Daimler and Volkswagen at. “We have an announced review of the European Commission, which is currently taking place,” said a Daimler spokeswoman. Volkswagen announced that the EU Commission had received documents in an investigation that had been announced Wolfsburg as well as with the daughter Audi spotted in Ingolstadt.
The EU Commission confirmed only searches in several car manufacturers, but did not name. She reiterated that inspections were a first step in the investigation and did not mean that a company had a debt.
The cartel allegations had become public in the summer. At that time DER SPIEGEL reportedthat the five leading car brands – alongside Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen – also the VW subsidiaries Audi and Porsche– Since the nineties unlawful in secret working groups on vehicle technology, costs, suppliers, markets and strategies had voted.
BMW: “Tasks to be mastered only through cooperation”
Last week, EU officials were already at BMW have come to collect information and data. Daimler had confirmed for the first time on Friday that the Group has applied to the EU authorities for status as a key witness in order to have any advantages in a possible procedure. The Stuttgart had even before Volkswagen reported to the antitrust authorities.
Agreements on technical standards are quite common in the automotive industry. The question is to what extent this could possibly have violated competition law. According to the EU rules, companies can go unpunished if they reveal themselves in the event of competition infringements. Otherwise, fines of up to ten percent of the annual turnover are threatened.
BMW emphasized that cooperation between companies is fundamentally important. “We will be able to master the tasks that lie ahead in the automotive industry only through cooperation in the industry and across industries.” As an example, the Munich called the cooperation of car manufacturers in the construction of the charging infrastructure for electric cars and map service Here, the German premium manufacturers have taken over some time ago from Nokia.