MERCEDES FACES NY PRICE-FIXING PROBE

Mercedes-Benz is under investigation for alleged vehicle price fixing in the New York area.

The U.S. Justice Department served parent company DaimlerChrysler AG with a subpoena regarding collusion among Mercedes-Benz dealers in the New York region.

In a statement, Mercedes-Benz USA says: “The only allegations that we are aware of relate to civil litigation stemming from unsubstantiated public comments from a terminated dealer, which has been pending for several years and which we feel has no merit.”

In a 1999 lawsuit that's still pending, a Mercedes-Benz dealer had his franchise revoked for alleged price fixing. A separate lawsuit filed that year by the federal government alleged Mercedes, 27 Mercedes dealers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and an accounting firm conspired to fix prices from 1992-99.