Peugeot Austria (PAG) accepts the fine of 15 million euros proposed by the Federal Competition Authority (BWB). The case concerns abuse of market power against domestic car dealers until 2021.
The settlement has been agreed between Peugeot Austria and the BWB, but is not yet legally binding, as the BWB explains.
Settlements are not a comparison: the companies acknowledge the facts established by the BWB and accept the amount of the fine that the BWB deems appropriate.
The case was brought by the Upper Austrian Peugeot dealer Büchl, who turned to the cartel court at the end of 2018 because he disagreed with the specifications of Peugeot Austria. In 2021, the Supreme Court (OGH), as the highest cartel court, ruled six of the twelve disputed points in the dealer relationship with Büchl inadmissible.
According to the legally binding decision, Peugeot Austria may no longer link bonus payments to dealers to customer satisfaction surveys, among other things. In addition, Peugeot’s general importer may no longer reduce dealers’ trading margins if they deliberately fail to achieve excessive sales targets.
Peugeot Austria said on Thursday that the OGH shutdown order had already been “fully implemented” in 2021. PAG sees the settlement “as an important contribution to bringing this matter to an end. “The form of cooperation with all our trading partners has been given a new basis.” The cooperation with 52 dealers in Austria is “characterized by a completely new, cooperative style.”
Peugeot is part of the Stellantis car group, which was formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and the French PSA Group in January 2021. Stellantis also includes brands such as Opel, Vauxhall, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati, Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and Ram Trucks.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
