Chrysler, Audi set for fines by China

Regulators deny injustice

BEIJING — China on Thursday announced it will fine automaker Audi $40.5 million and Chrysler $5.2 million in a sweeping anti-monopoly probe of their industry that has prompted complaints foreign businesses are being treated unfairly.

R e g u l a to r s h a ve launched probes of global automakers, technology suppliers and other companies in an apparent effort to force down prices.

Business groups say the secretive and abrupt way the investigations are conducted is alienating foreign companies, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said this week Beijing might be violating its free-trade commitments. Regulators deny foreign companies are treated unfairly.

Audi, the luxury unit of Germany’s Volkswagen AG, improperly enforced minimum prices that dealers were required to charge for vehicles and service, according to the Cabinet agency that oversees anti-monopoly enforcement, the National Development and Reform Commission.

It said Audi was fined 248.6 million yuan ($40.5 million) and eight distributors a total of 30 million yuan ($4.9 million).

Chrysler, part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, was fined 31.7 million yuan ($5.2 million) for enforcing minimum prices for vehicles sold by dealers in Shanghai, according to the city’s price bureau.

It said three dealerships were fined a total of 2.1 million yuan ($343,000) for agreeing to fix minimum prices for service, paint jobs and repairs.

Setting minimum retail prices is common in some countries but lawyers say Chinese regulators see it as a violation of free market principles.