The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) will co-operate with the Competition Commission in its investigation into vehicle pricing, the association said in a statement on Thursday.
Naamsa said that vehicle manufacturers as well as importers and distributors of vehicles in South Africa take independent decisions on sales and marketing-related issues.
“Importantly, vehicle manufacturers in South Africa price independently and individual companies decide on their pricing policies,” Naamsa asserted.
It added that the above matters did not fall within the terms of reference or scope of Naamsa’s activities.
Nevertheless, “in the interests of transparency and to the limited extent that Naamsa can assist, it will co-operate with the Commission in its investigations. Naamsa’s records, including minutes of Naamsa meetings, will be open for scrutiny to the Commission.”
The Competition Commission announced on Wednesday that it has initiated a formal investigation into high car prices and a number of sales practices, which if established, would be violations of the Competition Act.
Announcing the investigation, the Competition Commission said the preliminary information gathered, as well as the public outcry regarding new car prices remaining high, notwithstanding the country’s currency strengthening, was the driving force for further investigation of the local automotive industry.
Subjects of the investigation include some of the major motor vehicle manufacturers and importers of new motor vehicles in the country. The investigation would ultimately cover the whole market for new motor vehicles, the Commission said, but at this stage it was focusing on the practice of minimum resale price maintenance by specific manufacturers and dealers, whose names could not be revealed at this stage.
It was also announced on Wednesday that automotive group Toyota had agreed to pay a R12-million administrative penalty relating to minimum re-sale price maintenance. – I-Net Bridge