Brussels, 17/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - Car manufacturers have publicised their fears concerning the new car dealer scheme that the Commission will be unveiling at the end of the month. The new scheme devised by Commissioner Mario Monti's Competition DG is rumoured to involve greater liberalisation of the sector, opening it up to more competition, to the great disappointment of the manufacturers who fear that if the changes are too far-reaching, they could play havoc with a well-functioning system and that would have negative repercussions on everyone. Jean-Mari Folz, President of PSA Peugeot Citroën and also of the ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association) expressed concern at the approach currently being considered by the relevant European Commission departments. He said that European car manufacturers say they want regulations to be updated, but an over-radical reform would have the opposite effect by smashing the chain of responsibility between manufacturers, dealers and customers, thereby thwarting society's legitimate aspirations. The current exemption scheme will expire on 30 September 2002 and the Commission will be adopting a replacement scheme before the summer holidays.
Car manufacturers are pulling out the stops to try and minimise changes to the existing legislation, but consumer organisations are calling on the Commission to make a root and branch reform of a scheme they feel is out of date and which leads to pre-tax price differences of up to 50% from one Member State to the next. See EUROPE of 10 January, p.9, and 10/11 September, p.14.