A price regulator in China fined Mercedes-Benz 350 million yuan ($56.49 million USD) on Thursday for price-fixing as part of a plan to increase sales of lower-selling luxury models like the E-Class and S-Class Sedans.
An investigation determined that the German automaker "pressured" its dealers in Jiangsu to set a minimum amount on low selling vehicles and spare parts, according to Reuters.
The Daimler unit told dealers that if they chose not to take part in the price fixing they would receive warnings until they complied.
The Jiangsu pricing bureau decided to hand out the hefty fine after determining Mercedes-Benz violated China's anti-monopoly law, thus hurting consumer rights and creating an unfair market, according to Bloomberg.
Mercedes-Benz said in a statement Thursday that the company has accepted the fine and "takes its responsibilities under competition law very seriously."
"We have taken all appropriate steps to ensure to fully comply with the law," a spokesperson said to Reuters.
The pricing regulator added that it also fined some Mercedes-Benz dealers in China a total of 7.7 million yuan.
China has been buckling down on the auto industry and their practices in recent years. In 2014, regulators started fining automakers for price fixing for the first time after penalizing units of Volkswagen AG and Fiat Chrysler a total sum of $46 million, according to the BBC.
Mercedes-Benz was also found guilty of manipulating prices for after-sales services in China last year as well after domestic media complaints were reported that automakers around the globe were overcharging Chinese consumers.
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