Swiss Federal Competition Commission opens investigation against BMW
The Swiss Federal Competition Commission (Comco) has launched an investigation against BMW. The cartel watchdogs are investigating whether BMW induced a garage to invest millions of euros and then unexpectedly terminated the co-operation after the fact.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
The Competition Commission announced in a press release on Thursday that it would investigate whether BMW had relative market power vis-à-vis the garage and had therefore violated the Cartel Act.
The garage was an authorised dealer and service centre for BMW and Mini vehicles for several decades. It accuses BMW of offering it the prospect of expanding its business relationships and inducing it to invest millions.
BMW then terminated the co-operation unexpectedly without providing for an appropriate interim solution, the Competition Commission wrote. The garage was dependent on the continuation of the business relationship with BMW in order to amortise the millions invested.
When asked by the news agency AWP, Competition Commission Director Patrik Ducrey did not want to provide any information on the amount of the investments. However, he did say that they were significant investments. He could not say any more.
The presumption of innocence applies to BMW.
First case
This is the first case in connection with the new provision on relative market power, which came into force on January 1, 2022, said Competition Commission Director Patrik Ducrey when asked by the news agency AWP. This is the first time that a garage that has been terminated following significant investments has claimed an abuse of relative market power. “But we expected cases like this.”
The German car manufacturer is no stranger to the Competition Commission: BMW had to pay a huge fine of CHF157 million ($182 million) in the past decade for preventing parallel imports. The Federal Supreme Court finally dismissed an appeal by BMW in 2017.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Swiss climate activists block vehicles near Gotthard tunnel
This content was published on
Around ten climate activists briefly blocked the A2 motorway near the northern entrance of the Gotthard tunnel on Thursday.
Watches belonging to Michael Schumacher up for auction
This content was published on
Schumacher's family is auctioning off eight rare watches from his collection in Geneva. The Christie's auction will take place on Monday.
Joya Marleen and Baschi named best solo acts at Swiss Music Awards
This content was published on
St. Gallen singer Joya Marleen and Baschi from Basel were named artists of the year at the Swiss Music Awards 2024 on Wednesday night.
Swiss authorities announce cost-cutting in asylum sector
This content was published on
The government notably wants to improve integration into the labour force, particularly for people with protection status S.
Various leaders confirm participation at Ukraine peace conference
This content was published on
The presidents of Poland, Finland, and Latvia and the prime ministers of Spain and Belgium will be at the Swiss-hosted talks in mid-June.
This content was published on
In the winter season up to April 2024, railway and cable car operators ferried 3% more visitors compared to the previous winter, and 5% more than the five-year average.
Rhine flooding: Swiss to invest CHF1 billion with Austria
This content was published on
As part of an international agreement with Austria, the Swiss government wants to pump CHF1 billion ($1.1 billion) into flood protection measures along the Rhine over the next three decades.
Swiss government proposes CHF10 million UNRWA donation
This content was published on
After months of debate, Switzerland plans to give CHF10 million ($11 million) to the UN agency this year, rather than the CHF20 million initially foreseen.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.