611 million euros fine for 10 manufacturers and 2 distributors of household appliances
611 million euros: this is the sum that 10 manufacturers of household appliances and two distributors will have to pay, which is not obscure. Indeed, Darty and Boulanger are concerned, but also manufacturers as famous as BSH Candy Hoover, Miele, Whirlpool Seb…
The facts took place between February 2007 and December 2014. According to the DGCCRF (Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression) and the Competition Authority, “the ten manufacturers and two distributors concerned infringed competition rules by implementing vertical retail price fixing practices“. In fact, these practices resulted in retaliatory measures (delays and stoppages of deliveries, implementation of exclusive sales systems, etc.) towards distributors who refused to comply with these price instructions. Well obviously, all this ultimately limited the price reductions favorable to consumers since, again according to the press release, “these practices thus eliminated intra-brand competition (the competition that distributors can engage in for a given brand) at the time of the development of Internet sales, preventing consumers from benefiting from more attractive prices for the purchase of their small and large household appliance products“.
A first warning shot in 2018
This sanction follows a first judgment dating from 2018, this time concerning “only” six manufacturers: BSH, Candy Hoover, Eberhardt Frères (Liebherr), Electrolux, Indesit and Whirlpool. But it appears that the ramifications were much broader than what the initial investigation unearthed through searches and seizures carried out at the headquarters of the companies involved. At the time, the total fines amounted to 189 million euros.
The matter is in any case important and it would be appropriate to summarize it in a few words. However, to know all the ins and outs, the competition authority website summarizes things very well, both with regard to the first judgment of 2018 that for the current verdict.
