Yahoo – AFP,
Bill Savadove, 5 Aug 2014
 |
A Mercedes
symbol is pictured in front of the Mercedes-Benz's Shanghai
office on August 5,
2014 (AFP Photo/Johannes Eisele)
|
China's
probes into foreign firms spread to the auto sector Tuesday as German car giant
Daimler said it was assisting authorities after reports anti-monopoly
investigators raided an office of its Mercedes-Benz unit.
"We
confirm that we are assisting the authorities in their investigation,"
Daimler Greater China said in an email to AFP.
Analysts
said the move marked an escalation of previous scrutiny of foreign automakers in
China, the world's largest car market, following investigations of overseas
firms in several other sectors over the past year.
 |
A woman
rides her bicycle past a
Mercedes Benz at a cross road in
Beijing on August 5,
2014 (AFP
Photo/Wang Zhao)
|
Daimler,
maker of Mercedes-Benz and Smart cars, did not directly refer to the incident
in its statement but said the matter was ongoing.
The report
quoted an unnamed source saying that the investigation focused on "Benz's
prices of finished automobiles and its policy of maintaining minimum prices
with distributors".
"It is
an escalation from what they (authorities) were doing," said Namrita Chow,
principal analyst for IHS Automotive in London. "The NDRC has had probes
into different pricing strategies... however, nothing was done about it."
She added
the latest investigation did not appear to be into an organised pricing cartel,
but rather what China considered to be unfairly high prices for spare parts and
automobiles compared with other markets.
Beijing
imposes heavy duties on imported cars and parts, which manufacturers say ramp
up prices for Chinese consumers.
The NDRC is
one of several Chinese government bodies that investigates violations of the
country's "anti-monopoly" law. It is responsible for doing so from a
pricing perspective.
On Sunday,
Daimler announced it would slash prices of more than 10,000 spare parts for its
Mercedes-Benz cars in China from September 1, according to a separate statement
that linked the move to a pricing and "anti-monopoly" investigation
of the entire Chinese auto industry.
Pharmaceuticals to milk powder
The
Mercedes-Benz office, in a western suburb of Shanghai, includes a dealership
with a showroom and a service centre.
Several
showroom employees told AFP they were unaware of any investigation.
But a
security guard said the premises were visited by an investigation team two days
in a row.
"They
were here all day yesterday and three or four hours this morning," he
said.
A sign
outside says it is an authorised dealer of Mercedes-Benz China and the Beijing
Benz Automotive Co. -- a joint venture between Daimler and Chinese partner BAIC
Motor, which has been producing Mercedes-Benz passenger cars since 2006.
Since last
year, China has launched sweeping probes into alleged wrongdoings by foreign
companies in several sectors, including the pharmaceutical and baby milk powder
industries.
Last week,
a Chinese government agency said it was investigating US software giant
Microsoft for allegedly operating a monopoly in its market after raiding four
of its offices around the country.
 |
The logo of
the Mercedes-Benz's
Shanghai office is pictured on
August 5, 2014 (AFP Photo/
Johannes Eisele)
|
The SAIC on
Monday warned Microsoft not to "obstruct" the investigation in a
meeting with the company's deputy general counsel Mary Snapp, according to a
statement on its website.
In another
chill for US tech firms, state media have said China is planning to announce US
chip maker Qualcomm has monopoly status in the mobile phone chip market.
Over the
weekend, a newspaper said that the government had left two foreign firms
specialising in Internet security, Symantec of the United States and
Russia-headquartered Kaspersky, off a list for procurement in favour of
domestic firms.
And last
year, China fined six baby formula producers -- all but one of them foreign --
a total of $108 million for price-fixing.
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