Kia guilty verdict ‘major victory’ for Aftermarket

Supreme court dismisses Kia's petition to appeal against conviction for breach of competition in Swedish market

Kia guilty verdict ‘major victory’ for Aftermarket
IAAF chief executive, Wendy Williamson.

 

The Supreme Court in Stockholm dismissed Kia Motor’s petition to appeal against their conviction in December 2012 for breach of competition in the Swedish market on its seven-year new car warranty.

Under the EU Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation 461/2010, manufacturers have a duty to honour the vehicle’s warranty when it is serviced outside of the dealership, and non-OE parts being fitted onto a vehicle is an insufficient reason for the warranty to be declared invalid.

Kia’s terms outline that it is a requirement that any prescribed service is performed by a brand authorised workshop.

Block Exemption

The SBF reported the VM to the Swedish Competition Authority who agreed the terms were likely in breach of Block Exemption Regulations.

It later sued the VM in the Swedish Market Court which then convicted Kia Motors for breach of competition.

The IAAF is calling on its members to inform the federation when VMs and their dealers are miscommunicating information to motorists regarding their rights under Block Exemption legislation.

Wendy Williamson, IAAF chief executive said: “The Swedish verdict is fundamentally important, it’s the first of its kind within the EU, and is a huge victory for the aftermarket.

“The aftermarket has to educate ill-informed motorists about their rights, so it is essential the IAAF is made aware of any block exemption infringements as soon as possible so we can react quickly to resolve them.

“This case is a stark reminder to VMs and dealers to abide by the current legislation.

“Under these rules, everyone has a ‘Right2Choose’ and car owners are no longer obliged to go to their dealer during the vehicles warranty period.”

To find out more about the IAAF, click ‘more details’ below.

6 Comments

  1. further to this,a client of ours recently purchased two new cars from evans halshaw in altrincham,cheshire,they asked could they have there cars maintained by there prefered repairer,ie,us…..the salesmans reply was “the indie garage/repairer has to be vat registered or the warranty is invalidated”,they are aware the we as a company arent vat registered and knowing no different,they were duly signed up to a three year service contract with the dealer!,,,,we were at the families home doing another vehicle and were informed of this and i was furious!,,we CHOOSE to operate just under the threshold of vat for good reasons,having been done over by them in the past!,,,our reputation of over a quarter of a century is second to none,our two mobile service/diagnostic/remap units are highly equipped,we service accurately according to manufactures schedules,sometimes covering more in a full service than there weak schedules require!,,,,i want to report them to the iaaf,and i would like your thoughts,ultimately i want the dealer to release them from the service contract as its six services we have lost for three years,the client is fully behind us in this.

    Reply
    • Hi Graham, thanks for the comment. This is exactly the sort of example that the IAAF are calling for. I’ll pass this on for you and will get back to you shortly. Regards, Mike.

      Reply
  2. further to this,a client of ours recently purchased two new cars from evans halshaw in altrincham,cheshire,they asked could they have there cars maintained by there prefered repairer,ie,us…..the salesmans reply was “the indie garage/repairer has to be vat registered or the warranty is invalidated”,they are aware the we as a company arent vat registered and knowing no different,they were duly signed up to a three year service contract with the dealer!,,,,we were at the families home doing another vehicle and were informed of this and i was furious!,,we CHOOSE to operate just under the threshold of vat for good reasons,having been done over by them in the past!,,,our reputation of over a quarter of a century is second to none,our two mobile service/diagnostic/remap units are highly equipped,we service accurately according to manufactures schedules,sometimes covering more in a full service than there weak schedules require!,,,,i want to report them to the iaaf,and i would like your thoughts,ultimately i want the dealer to release them from the service contract as its six services we have lost for three years,the client is fully behind us in this.

    Reply
    • Hi Graham, thanks for the comment. This is exactly the sort of example that the IAAF are calling for. I’ll pass this on for you and will get back to you shortly. Regards, Mike.

      Reply
  3. We have the same in our industry of wrong fuel drains, consumers are told that if we carry out the fuel drain that there warranty will be invalid! Even though our equipment is far superior than that of the main dealers.. We also have Land Rover who are charging £6500-£8500 for a wrong fuel rectification and if done elsewhere that the warranty is void! We have done thousands of fuel drains with no issues and are so confident in our service offer a no fix no fee policy and for just £145.

    Reply
  4. We have the same in our industry of wrong fuel drains, consumers are told that if we carry out the fuel drain that there warranty will be invalid! Even though our equipment is far superior than that of the main dealers.. We also have Land Rover who are charging £6500-£8500 for a wrong fuel rectification and if done elsewhere that the warranty is void! We have done thousands of fuel drains with no issues and are so confident in our service offer a no fix no fee policy and for just £145.

    Reply

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