China probing over 1000 auto firms for anti-trust violations

Over 1,000 auto firms in China, including domestic and foreign companies, are facing anti-monopoly probes as the government has launched a crackdown on top overseas car makers like Mercedes and Audi for alleged violations of rules.
Anti-trust investigations already underway in the auto and telecommunications sectors have spread to other industries also, including a number of cement and medical companies, state-run China Daily reported.
Besides the recent high-profile cases, the probes into domestic companies are also being done and a monopoly case involving a state-owned company will be disclosed soon, an official at the National Development and Reform Commission was quoted as saying by the Daily.

The latest auto company involved in the probe is US manufacturer General Motors, which yesterday said its passenger vehicle joint venture in China was contacted by the commission after at least seven foreign car makers cut prices amid the antitrust investigations.
BMW, Volkswagen's Audi, Daimler's Mercedes-Benz, Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover, Fiat's Chrysler, Toyota and Honda have all announced price cuts for vehicles or spare parts in July and early August.
Besides the auto firms, Chinese officials have placed companies like Microsoft under anti-trust violation probe.

FAW-Volkswagen's Audi division may face a fine of 1.8 billion yuan (USD 292 million) for operating a monopoly, The Economic Observer reported.

The report said the punishment is equivalent to one per cent of the company's sales in 2013, which is the minimum level as the Anti-Monopoly Law states that violators can be fined between 1 and 10 per cent of their sales revenue for the previous year.
Recent high-profile anti-trust cases have sparked concerns over China's monopoly efforts, with some foreign businesses complaining that they are being targeted unfairly.
The NDRC official, however, said that the investigations, some of which began in 2011, are not aimed at any specific type of industry or a specific country.
"Investigations in many industries started with domestic companies and then spread to foreign companies," he said.

He said investigations into state-owned or Chinese private enterprises are also underway and a monopoly case involving a state-run company will be disclosed soon.
He did not disclose the sector in which the state-owned company is and only disclose that it is not in the auto industry.
The official said many domestic automakers are under scrutiny, but the problem here is not as obvious as that involving their international peers, partly due to their small market share.
Domestic-brand automakers accounted for less than 20 per cent of China's auto sales in the first half of this year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers says.