Brussels, 15/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has put an end to its anti-trust action against the motorcycle manufacturer Triumph, the latter having lifted the ban on its dealers in the Benelux selling in the United Kingdom.
As a reminder, the Commission had investigated in the Triumph's premises in the United Kingdom in April 1999, its Benelux importer Greenib and several dealers in the Netherlands and Belgium, following the lodging of complaints by British customers claming that they were unable to buy Triumph motorcycles in the aforementioned countries. Following its investigation, the Community Executive gathered sufficient proof that this was indeed the case. Three months after the investigations, the motorcycle manufacturer recognised that it had imposed a ban on exports between April-May 1997 and March 1998 to prevent its Benelux dealers selling the motorcycles in the United Kingdom. According to Triumph, monetary fluctuations between the pound sterling and the other currencies lay at the root of the action aimed at reducing the parallel trade. Price differences between the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands did indeed reach 30% for certain models at that time.
At the Commission's request, Triumph lifted this ban and authorised its British, Belgian and Dutch dealers to sell motorcycles to any client, whatever their country of origin or the use of the motorcycle. The Commission considers that, given Triumph's positive action, the limited period in which the ban applied and the limited impact it produced on the market, it was no longer necessary to pursue the case. Triumph, which sells its vehicles in all the Member States of the Union, has a market share of less than 5% in the EU as a whole.