Urgent statement from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers!, Violation of the spirit of the Anti Monopoly Law Market | Fair Competition | Anti Monopoly Law
The 16 car companies shaking hands and making peace incident two days ago has sparked widespread discussion, with doubts surrounding it. The joint signing of the Commitment Letter is widely regarded by the industry as urging car companies not to engage in price wars, but at the same time, there are also views that this violates relevant provisions of the Anti Monopoly Law.
On July 8th, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) issued an emergency statement stating that the terms of the "Commitment Letter for Maintaining Fair Competition Market Order in the Automobile Industry" signed by 16 automobile companies, which involved the expression of "price" and did not disrupt the fair competition order at abnormal prices, were inappropriate and violated the spirit of the Anti Monopoly Law.
Based on this, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) has removed the above provisions from the "Commitment Letter" and urged 16 and other automotive production member enterprises to strictly comply with the Anti Monopoly Law and relevant administrative regulations, guidelines, and rules, independently price and compete fairly, and jointly contribute to the development of industry norms, health, and innovation.
Since the beginning of this year, the competition in China's automobile market has intensified, and price wars have emerged one after another. Companies have frequently mocked each other and even engaged in "big fights" on platforms such as press conferences and Weibo. In order to fulfill the obligation of industry associations to maintain fair market competition, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) organized 16 car companies, including traditional car companies and leading new forces, to jointly sign a commitment letter on July 6th. The first article of the commitment letter is "not to disrupt the order of fair market competition with abnormal prices.".
![Urgent statement from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers!, Violation of the spirit of the Anti Monopoly Law Market | Fair Competition | Anti Monopoly Law](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/0e244e38050e2d45d60b03c646f90675.jpg)
The joint signing of the Commitment Letter is widely regarded by the industry as urging car companies not to engage in price wars, but at the same time, there are also doubts that this violates relevant provisions of the Anti Monopoly Law.
According to Articles 13 and 16 of the Anti Monopoly Law, it is prohibited for operators with competitive relationships to enter into monopoly agreements that fix or change commodity prices; Industry associations shall not organize operators in their respective industries to engage in prohibited monopolistic behaviors.
After deleting the clause "not disturbing the fair competition order of the market with abnormal prices", the content of the "Commitment Letter" signed by the 16 car companies this time also includes "not exaggerating or false advertising", "quality first, quality first", and so on.