Mercedes Gets Investigated by the Chinese Government
It seems there is a media blitz with Mercedes, and not all of it is good. Earlier this week, Chinese regulators went into the offices of the German automaker to investigate “monopolistic behavior,” whatever the hell that means.
According to Mercedes, the “visit” came the day after the company had announced they would cut prices on repair parts sold in China by around 15 percent, “in response to anti-monopoly investigations into the automobile industry” by the Chinese government. In other words, Mercedes wanted to show a gesture of good faith that they weren’t engaging in these practices, so they cut some costs. It just might have come too late.
At present the company is cooperating with the Chinese officials, but they really don’t have a choice in the matter. The Chinese market is such a vast and exponentially growing one that Mercedes has no choice but to comply with the government’s requests. It’s in their best interests to do anything in their power to meet regulatory needs, even if those needs are somewhat suspect.
I say that last part because this inquiry comes just a week after the same investigators went into Microsoft offices in four different cities. Last year this same type of investigation went after Qualcomm, and within the last few months a plethora of drug and medical manufacturers were targeted.
The nature of these “investigations” is also problematic in that multiple agencies within the Chinese government claim responsibility and enforcement. To me, these “investigations” almost smell of shakedowns. Either the Chinese government is looking to impose its will on these companies and make a bit more profit, or they are trying to get ahold of designs to give to Chinese-based companies for copying. It’s been done a lot. Apparently, “copyright” is not in the Chinese language, or maybe it means the right to copy.