Trade watchdog starts probe into foreign car sales in Korea

The Fair Trade Commission has launched an investigation into foreign car importers in the wake of criticism of unsatisfactory price cuts and high repair costs despite the implementation of the Korea-European Union free trade agreement.

The trade watchdog`s probe is expected to cover illegal practices between imported car importers and dealers.

According to auto industry sources Sunday, the commission sent an official letter to major car importers, including BMW Korea, Audi Volkswagen Korea and Toyota Korea, informing them of the investigation. BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Volkswagen and Lexus occupy the top five places in the domestic import car market in that order.

The investigation will be conducted in written form on several issues such as distribution structure and the price decision process of new cars, to be followed by an on-the-spot survey of importers and sales dealers.

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