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Chinese auto group backs out of pricing pledge over antitrust law concerns
- Elon Musk’s Tesla and Chinese electric vehicle makers Nio and Xpeng among companies to agree to avoid ‘abnormal pricing’
- Carmaker association recognises the pledge, widely seen as truce to end price war, violates China’s anti-monopoly laws
The China Association of Auto Manufacturers (CAAM), citing antitrust law, on Saturday retracted a pledge to avoid “abnormal pricing” made two days earlier by 16 carmakers, including Tesla.
Thursday’s CAAM-organised pledge by the companies, including Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers Nio, Li Auto and Xpeng, had been interpreted by some as signalling a truce in a price war that has threatened industry-wide profitability.
But Elon Musk’s EV giant Tesla on Friday rolled out a global programme letting buyers get extra incentives through referrals from existing customers, a strategy long used by traditional carmakers to boost sales.
EV maker Nio builds financial muscle with stake sale to Abu Dhabi state firm
EV maker Nio builds financial muscle with stake sale to Abu Dhabi state firm
In a statement on its website on Saturday, CAAM said it recognised the pricing pledge had violated China’s antitrust law and said it would delete it from a list of commitments the carmakers had signed, witnessed by an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
CAAM said it would urge the 16 companies and other association members to strictly comply with the antitrust law and compete fairly with independent pricing.
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