中國裁定奔馳汽車壟斷 處罰名單又添一大成員

Chinese authorities have ruled that Mercedes-Benz has violated provisions of the country’s anti-monopoly law – adding another high-profile foreign investor to the growing list of casualties from China’s car industry probe.

中國當局裁定梅賽德斯-奔馳(Mercedes-Benz)違反了中國反壟斷法的規定。中國汽車業調查行動越來越長的傷亡名單上增添了又一個知名外國投資者。

Yesterday, the official Xinhua news agency reported that an investigator in eastern Jiangsu province had found that the carmaker, a division of Germany’s Daimler, had “controlled prices of spare parts and repair and maintenance in downstream markets”.

據官方的新華社昨日報道，在華東的江蘇省展開的調查發現，德國戴姆勒(Daimler)旗下的奔馳汽車“對下游售後市場的零部件價格以及維護保養價格進行控制”。

Over recent weeks, officials of China’s National Development and Reform Commission have raided Mercedes-Benz dealerships and sales offices in Jiangsu, and in the neighbouring city of Shanghai. Daimler confirmed the Shanghai raid this month and said it was co-operating with the NDRC in the investigation.

最近幾周，中國國家發展和改革委員會官員突擊搜查了梅賽德斯-奔馳在江蘇以及鄰近城市上海的經銷商和銷售辦事處。戴姆勒本月證實了上海的搜查行動，並稱正在配合發改委的調查。

Both Daimler and the NDRC – which polices pricing practices in China – declined to comment yesterday, citing the continuing investigation.

戴姆勒和負責監管中國市場定價做法的發改委昨日都以調查仍在進行爲由，拒絕置評。

However, executives at multinational carmakers are bracing themselves for fines that they say could be handed down this week.

然而，一些跨國汽車製造商的高管正準備好面對處罰，他們說，最快本週就可能接到罰單。

During the course of its investigation, which has focused on the pricing of spare parts, the NDRC has claimed that Audi and Chrysler engaged in monopolistic behaviour, and indicated that as many as 12 Japanese companies could face penalties.

在主要針對零部件定價的調查期間，發改委已宣佈，奧迪(Audi)和克萊斯勒(Chrysler)從事了壟斷行爲，並稱多達12家日資企業可能面臨處罰。

Separately, Volkswagen’s joint venture with FAW, a state-owned car group, disclosed that some of its Audi sales offices had violated Chinese antitrust laws and said it was prepared to accept any penalty decided on by the NDRC.

另外，大衆汽車(Volkswagen)與中國國有的一汽(FAW)之間的合資企業披露，其部分奧迪銷售辦事處違反了中國的反壟斷法，並表示願意接受發改委決定的任何處罰。

Under China’s 2008 Anti-Monopoly Law, companies can be fined as much as 10 per cent of their annual revenues for pricing violations – a potentially large amount for many multinational car companies.

根據2008年生效的中國《反壟斷法》，公司在定價上違法可能招致相當於年度營收10%的罰款；對許多跨國汽車公司來說，這可能是很大一筆錢。

BMW and Mercedes, which together with Audi account for about 80 per cent of luxury car sales in China, have announced wide-ranging price cuts for their spare parts in recent weeks.

寶馬(BMW)和奔馳在近幾周都宣佈零部件大範圍降價。這兩個品牌連同奧迪佔中國豪車銷量的大約80%。

In a statement issued on August 3, Mercedes said the cuts would be as much as 29 per cent and affect more than 10,000 parts. Less than a week later, BMW announced price cuts of up to 50 per cent on about 2,000 components.

梅賽德斯在8月3日發表聲明，稱降價幅度最高達到29%，涉及逾1萬個型號的部件。不到一週後，寶馬宣佈了高達50%的降價，涉及大約2000個型號的零部件。

The NDRC made its first move against multinational groups over pricing a year ago, when it fined six baby formula manufacturers Rmb670m ($109m) for alleged antitrust violations.

發改委一年前開始在定價問題上對跨國集團採取行動。當時它以據稱的反壟斷違規爲由，對6家嬰兒配方奶粉生產商罰款6.7億元人民幣（合1.09億美元）。

But investigations by the NDRC’s antitrust division have inspired a backlash among some foreign investors, who feel they are being unfairly targeted and claim that the Chinese authorities have been heavy-handed. In a statement issued on August 13, the European Chamber of Commerce in China urged local authorities not to “prejudge the outcome of the investigations”.

不過，由發改委反壟斷部門展開的調查引發了一些外國投資者的反彈，他們覺得中國當局將矛頭指向自己是不公平的，並稱中國當局手段強硬。中國歐盟商會(European Chamber of Commerce in China)在8月13日發表聲明，敦促中國有關部門不要預先裁斷調查結果。

Chinese officials deny harbouring any bias. “All companies are treated equally under the anti-monopoly law,” a commerce ministry spokesman said at a monthly briefing yesterday.

中國官員否認懷有任何偏見。“在反壟斷法面前，所有企業一律平等，”中國商務部發言人昨日在月度新聞發佈會上表示。