Brussels, 12/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - Tilman Lueder, spokesperson to Mario Monti, Commissioner for Competition, told the press that the Commission has indeed called upon German car builder Audi, which is part of the Volkswagen group, to provide information on possible restrictive commercial practices The complaint made is that Audi prevents cross-supply between franchisees from different Member States wanting to buy new cars between themselves. This practice allows a franchisee to purchase from others in the network, notably those based in a country where prices are lower. In the context of the internal market, this stimulates competition, as the franchisees are not obliged to buy solely from the manufacturer. The complaint refers to a series of measures brought in by the manufacturer to limit cross-supply, said Tilman Lueder. It appears that the franchisees complained that they did not receive discounts when they made sales of this type to another country of the EU, between themselves or directly to individual clients. If this was the case, this practice could run counter to the Community rules on block exemptions in the automotive sector. Mr Lueder added, however, that "we are in the initial stages", and that it was too early to take position on the possible development of the case. "We must wait for the response to be made by Audi within an appropriate time-frame", he added, but did not specify how long this would be. According to AFP, a spokesperson for the company said that Audi intended to "answer all questions".