The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) has imposed a fine of HUF 550 million (approximately EUR 1.4 million) on Használtautó.hu Kft., the operator of Hungary’s leading online car advertising platform, for abusing its dominant position.
The infringement concerns the platform’s former Norwegian-owned operator, Adevinta Classified Media Hungary Kft., which for several years offered a subscription package to business advertisers that included an exclusivity clause. The clause prevented dealers from advertising on competing platforms, thereby restricting competition in the online car classifieds market.
According to the GVH, this conduct intentionally limited competition and could have led to higher prices and reduced choice for both advertisers and consumers in Hungary.
The authority launched its investigation in December 2021, examining Adevinta’s practices under both Hungarian and EU competition law. The probe focused on the so-called “exclusive package” introduced on April 1, 2018, which was found capable of excluding competitors or hindering their market entry.
Használtautó.hu has long been the most dominant player in the Hungarian online vehicle listings market, with a market share of at least 70% during the period under review. The GVH determined that Adevinta’s exclusivity arrangements — combined with the automatic, free transfer of listings to its other platform, Jófogás Autó — significantly limited rival platforms’ ability to attract users, especially as new competitors were entering the market at the time.
Following a detailed legal and economic analysis based on extensive data collection, the GVH concluded that Adevinta’s conduct constituted an abuse of dominance by unreasonably restricting market entry and weakening competitive pressure. The infringement was found to violate both Hungarian and EU competition rules.
The GVH Competition Council fined Adevinta’s legal successor, Használtautó.hu Kft., which has operated the Használtautó.hu platform since autumn 2023. The authority justified the magnitude of the fine by the prolonged duration of the infringement and the significant revenues generated by the company during the relevant period.
As a mitigating factor, the GVH noted that Adevinta discontinued the exclusive package following the initiation of proceedings.
In announcing the decision, the GVH emphasized that companies holding a dominant market position must exercise particular caution in their commercial practices:
“Dominant undertakings must not hinder the entry of potential competitors or create unreasonably disadvantageous conditions for them,” the authority stated.
