Brussels, 01/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has authorised the automobile manufacturers Ford, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, Renault and Nissan to create a joint-venture called Covisint. The European Executive stresses that it is not a question of a merger operation as such, given that the partner companies will not share control or have exclusive control of the new company. Covisint is therefore the first inter-company Marketplace to be examined under Article 81 of the treaty (concerted agreements) rather than the regulation on concentrations.
Covisint is an electronic market intended to provide the automotive industry with procurement, collaborative product development and supply chain management tools, thereby reducing cost and improving efficiency. The Commission was particularly satisfied with the increasingly frequent creation of inter-company marketplaces that generally have a positive effect on competition. By increasing market efficiency through cost reduction into research and information, as well as by improving stock management, they should indeed lead to a decrease in price for the end-user.