The European Commission has opened an in-depth antitrust investigation into the $50 billion merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA amid concerns that the deal “may reduce competition” in the lucrative small commercial vans market. Their failure to bow to earlier demands was first reported by the Financial Times last week, when the deadline of June 10th passed without concessions being offered. The two businesses would become the world’s fourth-largest carmaker if the merger was completed and would control about a third of the European vans market, more than double their closest competitors Renault and Ford. Margrethe Vestager, the commission’s executive vice-president, and responsible for competition policy, said: “[Commercial vans] are a growing market and increasingly important in a digital economy where private consumers rely more than ever on delivery services. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2020

Source: The Irish Times June 17, 2020 15:22 UTC