More than 1,000 consumers have signed up to OCU´s action against car dealers

Madrid, 15 September, 2015. More than 1,000 customers have signed up to the legal action for damages that OCU will promote against dealers sanctioned by the CNMC (the National Commission for Markets and Competition) for practices that restrict competition.

The CNMC has sanctioned 147 dealerships of various makes of car with fines in excess of 170 million euros for the exchange of commercial information and price fixing. These anti-competitive practices have harmed thousands of consumers who purchased their cars from these dealers at a higher price than could have been obtained had the rules about fair competition been respected.

Consumers affected are among those who bought their car between 2006 and 2013 in some of the dealerships of the following brands: Opel, Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen Group (Audi, VW and Seat), Land Rover, Citroen, Mitsubishi, BMW , Chevrolet, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Volvo and Lexus.

It is for this reason that OCU will start legal proceedings in order to obtain compensation for damages suffered by consumers. So far more than 1,000 consumers have signed up to this pioneering action and, given the success of the appeal, OCU has extended the registration deadline until 31 October.

On its website OCU has developed an application to allow affected consumers to check whether they meet the criteria in order to be included in this action and to receive detailed information about it, to assess whether to go to court to claim their compensation.

OCU is confident that, just as happens in other European countries, the success of such litigation for indemnification covered by this law will allow consumers to obtain compensation for damages produced by the breach of competition rules.

For more information (media): Eva Jimenez Tel .: 91 722 60 61 - ejimenez@ocu.org www.ocu.org