India's antitrust regulator fined 14 carmakers a combined 25.4 billion rupees ($420 million) for stifling competition in the market for spare parts. Among the companies fined were the local units of General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Fiat, Nissan, BMW and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz.The fines were equivalent to 2 percent of the carmakers' three-year average revenue in India, according to a Competition Commission of India order dated Aug. 25. The regulator also ordered the companies to provide spare parts and diagnostic tools to independent garages, and honor warranties on cars repaired by them after markups reached as high as 4,817 percent.
"The car companies charged arbitrary and high prices for their spare parts" through their monopolistic control, the commission said in a statement. Car companies were also found to be "distorting fair competition" by using their dominant position to protect their market for repair services, it said.
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