Daimler AG confirmed Tuesday that it is being investigated by the Chinese authorities after reports of a raid in its Shanghai offices surfaced online.
German car maker Daimler AG announced Tuesday that it is assisting the Chinese government officials in an investigation that is being carried out across the automobile industry. Major players in the field such as Volkswagen's Audi, Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover and BMW are also being probed by the authorities for any violation of the country's anti-monopoly law.
Daimler, which also operates the Mercedes-Benz car brand, wrote in an email statement to BBC News on Tuesday, confirming the investigation without any specifics about the nature of the investigation and the department which is conducting the inquiry. "We confirm that we are assisting the authorities in their investigation."
The confirmation of the investigation comes a day after local media reports said the Mercedes-Benz offices in Shanghai were raided by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), country's top economy planning agency. The anti-monopoly officials have been investigating the pricing policies of the foreign luxury brands.
In a preventive measure, Daimler AG announced Sunday that it would reduce the prices of spare parts of its Mercedes-Benz cars by an average 15 percent. The shift will come into effect starting September 1, 2014. Prices of more than 10,000 components used in all Mercedes-Benz models sold in China will be lowered as a part of the new change, with parts like windshields getting as high as 29 percent discount from its current pricing.
In a similar move, Audi announced the prices of its spare parts will also be lowered by up to 38 percent starting August 1. India's Tata Motors brand is planning to reduce the prices of three of its Jaguar Land Rover models in China, Wall Street Journal reports. These changes will improve after sales service and in turn attract more consumers.
