UK watchdog raids Mercedes-Benz offices for alleged price fixing
16 Sep 2010
The UK watchdog, The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), this week conducted raids on the UK offices of Daimelr, the German maker of Mercedes-Benz for allegedly being part of a cartel of commercial vehicle manufacturers in the country.
The raid on Daimler-owned Mercedes-Benz offices in the UK are part of the OFT's initial investigations into commercial vehicle manufacturers in the UK forming a cartel to fix prices of trucks.
The investigation could involve other truck manufacturers like Sweden's Volvo and Scania, Germany's MAN Group and Italy's Iveco trucks owned by Fiat.
"The OFT is investigating suspected cartel activity involving commercial vehicle manufacturers in the UK, said a spokesperson of OFT.
"Investigations are being carried out under both the Enterprise Act 2002 and the Competition Act 1998. The investigations are at an early stage.''
"The OFT will not be in a position to conclude whether it considers the law has been infringed until it has completed its investigations and assessed the available evidence."
Without releasing the name, the OFT said that it has arrested one person, who was later released on bail.