The investigation of the "Benz" case once again brought the focus of the industry back to the anti-monopoly field of the automotive industry.
At 9:00 on April 23, the Jiangsu Provincial Price Bureau official website announced the punishment for the Mercedes-Benz monopoly case: "The Mercedes-Benz company was fined 350 million yuan, and some dealers were fined 7.869 million yuan." Two hours later, Mercedes-Benz quickly responded positively. The decision to punish the anti-monopoly law enforcement department is “completely respected, accepted and immediately followedâ€.
"So far, in the anti-monopoly penalties of the automobile industry, the penalty amount of the Mercedes-Benz case is the highest." Shi Jianzhong, a member of the expert group of the State Council Anti-monopoly Committee and a professor of the China University of Political Science and Law, said in an interview with the reporter of the China Times. However, the "most expensive" ticket is apparently not the end of the anti-monopoly of the auto industry; on the contrary, the anti-monopoly investigation by the anti-monopoly law enforcement team has just begun.
Behind the “most expensive ticketâ€, before the landing of the Mercedes-Benz anti-monopoly 357 million yuan, the anti-monopoly ticket in the automobile field, four auto companies and 12 auto parts companies were successively punished by the anti-monopoly law enforcement department, and Mercedes-Benz is undoubtedly single. The one with the highest amount of brand penalty.
Not only that, but in terms of punishment, the anti-monopoly law enforcement department’s punishment for Mercedes-Benz is also very strict. The Wuhan Municipal Price Bureau revealed that the penalties of the National Development and Reform Commission Anti-monopoly Bureau for Mercedes-Benz and its distributors were 7% and 1% of the relevant market sales in the previous year. Prior to this, the National Development and Reform Commission's Antimonopoly Bureau imposed penalties on Chrysler and Audi's two vehicle companies at 3% and 6% of the previous year's relevant market sales.
Why is the penalty ratio of Mercedes-Benz so heavy?
Shi Jianzhong said frankly to this reporter, "Because Mercedes-Benz enters the Chinese market for a relatively long period of time, and the anti-monopoly behavior carried out has a relatively greater impact on related fields and consumer interests, the amount and proportion of penalties are different from those of other companies. Not only that, but Shi Jianzhong also believes that in the process of increasing enforcement of anti-monopoly departments, the later the correction, the greater the punishment intensity.
In addition, the reason why Mercedes-Benz is subject to “heavy punishment†is also the typical illegal behavior in the investigation of automobile anti-monopoly punishment. Judging from the facts announced by the Jiangsu Provincial Price Bureau, Mercedes-Benz’s monopolistic behavior is mainly concentrated on “vertical monopoly on controlling prices of its dealersâ€; the main monopolistic behavior of dealers in Mercedes-Benz Jiangsu is “implementing prices in the after-sales marketâ€. Alliance, unified working hour fee standard." The “prohibition of a competitive operator to fix or change the price of a commodity†and “the price or the lowest price of a fixed resale to a third party†are typical monopolistic acts prohibited by the Anti-Monopoly Law.
In fact, Mercedes-Benz’s ticket amount has been alleviated in the process of deliberation and discussion by relevant departments. In particular, the ratio of the fines of 1% of the relevant market sales of the three distributors that reached and implemented the monopoly agreement under the Mercedes-Benz organization in the previous year has already been a legal exemption for the dealers who have reached a monopoly agreement and provided important evidence. Or the result of a light punishment.
Parallel imports are also "involved"
In fact, in addition to vehicle manufacturing, dealers, spare parts suppliers, and auto insurance and transportation, the monopoly of the auto industry may be more than expected.
Parallel import cars are becoming a new case to be explored - last September, after the official launch of the 2015 BMW X5, the displacement quietly rose from 2979ml in 2014 to 3004ml in 2015. The increase in this small 25ml displacement has led to a significant increase in the unit price of BMW X5 parallel imported cars in China. It is understood that from 2979ml to 3004ml, the tariff rate of the new and old models has increased from 66.19% to 95%. This means that a US version of the BMW X5 model with a purchase price of $59,525, the tariff price increased from 243,800 yuan to 350,000 yuan, an increase of 106,200 yuan.
As a result, compared with the imported cars, the price advantage of parallel imported cars no longer exists. This is also the reason why the BMW X5 models imported by the huge group to start the parallel imported car business are all in the Middle East. “The Middle East version will not adjust the displacement in the future. I don’t know. The X5 models sold in the store are still the 2014 Middle East models.†A large distributor of the parallel imported car business in Beijing The reporter said.
BMW's behavior of adjusting displacement is interpreted in the industry as “against parallel import carsâ€, but from the perspective of auto anti-monopoly, such behavior is likely to be suspected of monopoly. Wei Shizhen, a senior partner of Beijing Dacheng Law Firm, who has long been concerned about the anti-monopoly field, told the reporter that “this behavior that changes the control channel is not a typical monopolistic behavior, but the ultimate goal is to limit competition. In general, the effect of restrictions and exclusion of competition has been achieved, and it is still suspected of violating the Anti-Monopoly Law. At this point, law enforcement in Europe and the United States is more flexible."
Breaking and reshaping In the context of anti-monopoly initiatives with increasing intensity and broader scope, the automotive industry will also be a process of breaking and reshaping.
Since the second half of 2014, the most obvious reaction brought by the anti-monopoly wind to the auto industry is that major auto companies have announced the reduction of car prices and accessories prices. Behind the collective price cuts, it is not only the performance of “positive rectification and good attitude†in the process of anti-monopoly investigation, but also the nerves of many auto companies in the anti-monopoly “strike hard†atmosphere. "For the market price is higher than the competitive price due to monopolistic behavior, the operator's initiative to reduce the price is a means to gradually restore the market competitive price. According to the provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law and the Administrative Punishment Law, operators suspected of monopolistic behavior actively cut prices. It is a legal situation that the anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies should consider in order to actively eliminate or mitigate the harmful consequences of price monopoly behavior." An authoritative person of the Anti-monopoly Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission said in an interview with this reporter.
However, even after a round of collective price cuts, on April 27, the China Insurance Association and the China Automobile Maintenance Industry Association released the third phase of the domestic common model zero-ratio data, there are still many models with a zero ratio of more than 300%. Reasonable line, in which the BMW Brilliance 5 Series F18 model and the Beijing Benz E-Class W212 model have a total ratio of more than 650%.
This also implies to a certain extent that while the auto anti-monopoly attack hits the inherent "hidden rules" of the auto industry, it does bring some new weather, but it must bring real subversion and change to the auto industry. There is a long way to go.
"The formation of some monopolistic behaviors in the auto industry is in fact very much related to the "Automobile Brand Sales Management Measures". It can be said that the pricing model stipulated by the measures is more likely to lead to the vertical price monopoly of the auto industry." Shi Jianzhong believes To regulate and improve the development of the automobile industry, anti-monopoly is on the one hand, and the simultaneous improvement and improvement of the overall legal system is also an important link.
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