Türkiye's competition watchdog announced on Tuesday that it fined tire manufacturers and distributors a combined TL 3.63 billion (nearly $78.5 million) for price coordination, anti-competitive dealer restrictions and labor market violations.
Brisa received the highest fine at TL 1.02 billion, followed by Goodyear at TL 672 million and Continental at TL 397 million, the Competition Authority (RK) said.
Violations included coordinated pricing among competitors and the exchange of sensitive labor market information among others, the authority said.
Moreover, the authority noted that according to the obligations under the investigation, price lists sent to dealers need to be watermarked, announcements cannot be shared collectively, and dealers would need to have access to a system/interface with their own user accounts.
"The practice of sending announcements with the above-mentioned characteristics collectively to multiple dealers or all dealers must be discontinued. Instead, such announcements must be made individually through an interface/portal where each dealer can access the information using its own username and password, and where transactions between the producer/supplier undertakings and dealers are carried out. No verbal or written method other than the relevant interface/portal may be used," the statement read.
