EU'S PEUGEOT MOVE: European antitrust officials have raided PSA Peugeot offices across Europe as part of a long-running probe into alleged illegal barriers in the cross-border sales of cars.
European Commission officials secured documents from the Peugeot headquarters in Paris, national import companies and dealer associations in Germany. "On Wednesday our offices were searched," confirmed an official at Peugeot Germany. "This is a follow-up investigation to an existing proceeding." Brussels said that the firm is alleged to have obstructed cross-border car trading. Peugeot is understood to have tried to stop consumers from countries with a high purchase price, such as Germany or Britain, from buying its new cars in cheaper countries such as Ireland, Greece or Denmark.
Industry experts are surprised about the big scale of the raid: "Its scale is unprecedented. The regulators have not investigated cases against Volkswagen, Opel or DaimlerChrysler with such severeness."
In 2000, the EU's antitrust regulator imposed a €102m fine on Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker. The sanction, at the time the largest fine imposed by regulators in Brussels, came after the German group was found to have illegally stopped non-Italian consumers from buying its cars in Italy.
- Financial Times
SAFE SAAB: A Swedish insurance firm has rated the Saab 9-5 as "the safest car on the road". Folksam rated the Swedish-built car the safest in its report, which is updated every two years. The findings are based on assessment of personal injuries suffered in real-life accidents on Swedish roads and involved over 100 different car models.
MORGAN SPECIAL: Morgan is to produce a special edition of its Plus 8 to mark the model's 35th anniversary. About 185 anniversary editions, based on the original, will be built at the company's headquarters in Worcestershire. The car is powered by a Land Rover V8 4.0 litre engine. More than 6,000 Plus 8s have been built since the model was launched in 1968 and nearly all of them are still in service
ROLLER PRICE TAG: Rolls-Royce has announced the British price for its new Phantom. It will cost £214,500.