The Competition Authority and the Society of the Irish Motor Industry will investigate claims by a Dublin car dealer that some dealerships offer bogus quotations on competitors' notepaper to give themselves an advantage when selling new vehicles.
Mr James Delahunty, of White and Delahunty Motors, admitted to an employment tribunal on Wednesday that his garage issued bogus quotations on the headed notepaper of other dealerships to make his look more favourable.
The other garages he named, MCM in Kilmacud, W.B. Crawford and Mark Dennis Opel, have all denied the allegation.
Mr David Crawford of W.B. Crawford said he was "absolutely concerned" that his company was implicated by his fellow Opel dealer, Mr Delahunty. He was not aware of the practice and would carry out an investigation to ensure it was not occurring in his company.
Mr Vaughan O'Toole, general manager of MCM, said he "refuted entirely" the implication.
Mr Mark Dennis, director of Mark Dennis Opel, also denied the practice existed in his dealership.
Mr Delahunty could lose his membership of SIMI as a result of his admission, according to Mr Cyril McHugh, the society's chief executive. Mr Delahunty was unavailable for comment yesterday.