Mercedes unaware of China car dealer complaints

FRANKFURT Jan 17 (Reuters) - Daimler's (DAIGn.DE) luxury brand Mercedes on Sunday said it had no knowledge of alleged complaints by Chinese car dealers, reported in a magazine, that Mercedes was discriminating against independent car dealers in China.

The Wirtschaftswoche business weekly in prereleased abstracts of a story due to appear on Jan. 18 said Chinese car dealer association CADA was raising the complaints and pressing for the temporary withdrawal of import licences for Mercedes.

"We have no information regarding such irregularities," said a Daimler spokesman.

"Up to now we have not been contacted by CADA or anybody from the dealers' side," he added.

Wirtschaftswoche said the Chinese association was preparing complaints to the National Development and Reform Commission and trade authorities with view to prohibiting further expansion of Mercedes dealer networks and withdrawing the import licence.

China is one of Mercedes' most important overseas markets.

In 2009, it sold 70,100 cars there, 65 percent more than in the year before.

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner and Vera Eckert; Editing by Erica Billingham)

((vera.eckert@reuters.com; +49 69 7565 1228; Reuters Messaging: vera.eckert.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: DAIMLER/CHINA

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