Regulators target 'abuse' of IPR

Nissan-Dongfeng JV 'facing penalties'

Nissan Motor Corp's joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Corp is facing an antitrust investigation and penalties are likely to be announced soon, according to sources close to the issue.

The National Development and Reform Commission's antitrust probe into the joint venture is in its final stages, two industry sources familiar with the case told China Daily.

An official with the NDRC declined to comment. But the official said that the NDRC will draw up guidelines to promote fair competition in the vehicle industry, based on the Anti-Monopoly Law.

The agency has done some research, but formulation of the guidelines has yet to start.

Deng Zhisong, an antitrust attorney with the Beijing-based Dacheng Law Office, said this document will constitute China's first industry-specific antitrust guidelines.

"Once the guidelines take effect, they could cause disruptive changes to the industry's business model," said Deng, but customers will benefit from increased competition and lower prices.

Since September, a number of global automakers and their dealers in China have been fined by the NDRC for fixing the prices of vehicles and replacement parts.

In the new-car and after-sales markets, the conduct of international automakers has frequently violated the nation's antitrust law, including its provisions on price-fixing, territorial restrictions and customer restrictions, said experts.

The latest case was Mercedes-Benz, a luxury car unit of Daimler AG, which was fined 350 million yuan ($57.1 million), a record for an individual vehicle company in China.

The NDRC fined FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co Ltd 249 million yuan and it also fined eight Audi dealerships a total of 29 million yuan in September.

The China unit of Chrysler Group LLC was fined 32 million yuan and three of its dealerships were fined a combined 2 million yuan.

In August, 12 Japanese auto suppliers were fined a total of 1.24 billion yuan for manipulating prices.