The Romanian Competition Council has launched ex officio investigations targeting potential anti-competitive practices in the country’s automotive sector. The focus lies on suspected collusion in the markets for vehicle maintenance and repair services, as well as the distribution of spare parts.
As part of these inquiries, the authority carried out unannounced inspections at the headquarters of six major car importers: BMW Romania, Porsche Romania, Mercedes-Benz România, Hyundai Auto România, Renault Commercial Roumanie / Automobile-Dacia, and Euro Inter Trade Corporation. These companies represent a broad portfolio of brands—including Audi, BMW, Cupra, Dacia, EQ, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Nissan, Renault, Seat, Skoda, Smart, Volkswagen, and Volvo—which together account for around 70% of Romania’s passenger car fleet.
The investigations stem from concerns that these importers may have entered into restrictive agreements with their authorized dealers and repair networks. According to the Competition Council, there are indications that these arrangements could be limiting access for independent repair shops and alternative spare parts distributors to vehicle owners—effectively narrowing consumer choice and distorting competition.
Central to the authority’s concerns are contractual clauses that may pressure car owners to carry out maintenance and non-warranty repairs exclusively within authorized networks, or to use only original spare parts. Failure to comply could reportedly result in the loss of vehicle warranty coverage.
“Vehicle warranties should not be made conditional on performing out-of-warranty services or using specific spare parts exclusively within authorized networks. Such practices harm competition and ultimately disadvantage consumers,” said Bogdan Chirițoiu, President of the Competition Council.
The unannounced inspections were approved by the Bucharest Court of Appeal and were deemed necessary to collect key documents and information. However, the inspections themselves do not imply any determination of wrongdoing at this stage.
Should the investigations confirm violations of competition rules, the companies involved could face fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover. That said, firms cooperating with the investigation under the leniency program may qualify for full immunity or significant reductions in penalties.
These unannounced inspections come less than two months after the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority fined the majority of automakers for anticompetitive conducts over the end-of-life vehicle market.
