Daimler's Shanghai offices got a surprise visit from Chinese investigators early this morning looking for evidence of price fixing and monopolistic behavior. But Daimler is not alone and the reason is far from clear.
China's National Development and Reform Commission has been on a tear recently, investigating several foreign, multinational corporations for overcharging both consumers and businesses for goods that are normally sold for less in other countries.
In Daimler's case, the company announced this week that it would be cutting the prices of Mercedes-Benz parts sold in the country by 15 percent "in response to antimonopoly investigations into the automobile industry", according to The New York Times.
Daimler is the latest target of the commission, and joins foreign pharmaceutical companies, chipmaker Qualcomm, and Microsoft, which had four of its offices raided by investigators last week.
But much of the focus has been on automakers, which have come under fire from the state-owned broadcasting network CCTV for inflating the price of parts. Mercedes is the most recent automaker to rework its pricing, as both BMW and Audi have promised to reduce their own parts and service prices in China.