The fines, totalling £2.6 million, follow an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) inquiry into market rigging, reports the Guardian newspaper in London.

Trucks and vans

The case focuses on the distribution of Mercedes-Benz trucks and vans in the north of England and parts of Wales and Scotland, resulting in a fine of £1.5m for the Daimler-owned company.
Meanwhile, Ciceley - which has dealerships in Bolton, Blackburn, Carlisle and Dumfries - was fined £659,675. Enza Motors of Warrington, Stoke, Trafford Park and Manchester was ordered to cough up £347,000, while North-Wales based Road Range was fined £115,000.

Collusion

Another dealer, Yorkshire-based Northside, avoided a fine as it provided evidence of collusion in return for immunity.
Ali Nikpay, the OFT's senior director of cartels, said: ‘These cases send a clear signal that the OFT will take firm action against companies that collude to deny customers the benefit of fair competition regardless of the size of the firms involved or geographic scope of the investigation.’
A Mercedes-Benz UK spokesman said: ‘We have reached a settlement with the OFT for one infringement of competition law relating to its recent investigation into the company and three of its commercial vehicle dealers operating in northern England and Wales. Mercedes-Benz regrets the incident and has learned a lot from it.’

Marketplace platform

Meanwhile, German anti-trust authorities are investigating US online retail giant Amazon over its policy towards third-party traders.
The BBC reports that Amazon has a clause in its Marketplace platform which bans traders from offering their products cheaper elsewhere – including their own online shops.
Germany’s competition regulator – the Federal Cartel Office - is to question 2,400 people who sell their products directly to Amazon customers.
FCO head Andreas Mundt this week said: ‘Amazon's price parity clause - which denies traders the freedom of offering a product cheaper elsewhere - may breach general cartel rules. This is particularly the case if restricting a trader's price-setting freedom also hampers competition between different internet market places.’
Amazon has so far declined to comment.