China: Ford’s Changan venture gets US$24M fine for antitrust violation

China’s market regulator fined Ford Motor’s main local joint venture 162.8 million yuan ($23.55 million) on Wednesday for violating anti-monopoly laws, the latest automaker with foreign partners to face such penalties, reported Reuters.

The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said on its website that Ford’s joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co, Changan Ford, had breached the law by setting a minimum resale price for its cars in the Chinese municipality of Chongqing since 2013.

The joint venture, which is owned 50:50 by Ford and Changan Auto, did not provide evidence that this complied with the country’s anti-monopoly law during the investigation, it said.