US: Jaguar and Land Rover escape antitrust suit

A federal judge has dismissed an antitrust suit challenging Jaguar Land Rover’s ban on overseas resale of vehicles it sells to US customers according to Law.com.

The suit claims that Land Rover owners in the US could resell their vehicles in China or Russia for three or four times their cost in the US if not for a no-export policy the company imposes on new car buyers. The suit asserts that the vehicles’ manufacturer requires its US dealers to enforce the policy, and dealers that fail to do so are given a reduced allocation of vehicles.

According to the Judge William Martini, the plaintiff did not establish a concerted action by the defendants that produced anti-competitive effects within the relevant product and geographic markets. The S District Judge ruled Monday, January 8, dismissing the suit with prejudice.

Demand in China for Land Rovers shows no sign of abating, despite soaring prices, the South China Morning Post reported. The publication said that popularity of the company’s vehicles was helped by their exposure in a TV drama, with lines such as, “This is no ordinary jeep. It is called Range Rover. A vehicle specially designed for the British royal family … any courageous man would want a Range Rover.”

Jaguar Land Rover enacted its no-export policy in 2013, and in 2014 and 2015 China loosened restrictions on automobile imports, the suit claims.

Full Content: Law.com

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