中国裁定奔驰汽车垄断 处罚名单又添一大成员

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.

中国当局裁定梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)违反了中国反垄断法的规定。中国汽车业调查行动越来越长的伤亡名单上增添了又一个知名外国投资者。

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”.

据官方的新华社昨日报道，在华东的江苏省展开的调查发现，德国戴姆勒(Daimler)旗下的奔驰汽车“对下游售后市场的零部件价格以及维护保养价格进行控制”。

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.

最近几周，中国国家发展和改革委员会官员突击搜查了梅赛德斯-奔驰在江苏以及邻近城市上海的经销商和销售办事处。戴姆勒本月证实了上海的搜查行动，并称正在配合发改委的调查。

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

戴姆勒和负责监管中国市场定价做法的发改委昨日都以调查仍在进行为由，拒绝置评。

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

然而，一些跨国汽车制造商的高管正准备好面对处罚，他们说，最快本周就可能接到罚单。

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.

在主要针对零部件定价的调查期间，发改委已宣布，奥迪(Audi)和克莱斯勒(Chrysler)从事了垄断行为，并称多达12家日资企业可能面临处罚。

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，大众汽车(Volkswagen)与中国国有的一汽(FAW)之间的合资企业披露，其部分奥迪销售办事处违反了中国的反垄断法，并表示愿意接受发改委决定的任何处罚。

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.

根据2008年生效的中国《反垄断法》，公司在定价上违法可能招致相当于年度营收10%的罚款；对许多跨国汽车公司来说，这可能是很大一笔钱。

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.

宝马(BMW)和奔驰在近几周都宣布零部件大范围降价。这两个品牌连同奥迪占中国豪车销量的大约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.

梅赛德斯在8月3日发表声明，称降价幅度最高达到29%，涉及逾1万个型号的部件。不到一周后，宝马宣布了高达50%的降价，涉及大约2000个型号的零部件。

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.

发改委一年前开始在定价问题上对跨国集团采取行动。当时它以据称的反垄断违规为由，对6家婴儿配方奶粉生产商罚款6.7亿元人民币（合1.09亿美元）。

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”.

不过，由发改委反垄断部门展开的调查引发了一些外国投资者的反弹，他们觉得中国当局将矛头指向自己是不公平的，并称中国当局手段强硬。中国欧盟商会(European Chamber of Commerce in China)在8月13日发表声明，敦促中国有关部门不要预先裁断调查结果。

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.

中国官员否认怀有任何偏见。“在反垄断法面前，所有企业一律平等，”中国商务部发言人昨日在月度新闻发布会上表示。