Prohibition for Authorised Dealers to Sell to Tuning Companies Is Anticompetitive.

The article focuses on a German Federal Supreme Court decision ruling that contractual clauses prohibiting authorised Porsche dealers from selling new vehicles and parts to tuning companies constitute anticompetitive restrictions under the Act against Restraints of Competition (Sec. 33(4)(1)(a)) and are not exempt under the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (Regulation (EU) No. 330/2010) or the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (Regulation (EU) No. 461/2010). The court found that tuning companies are not resellers within a selective distribution system and that the supply bans specifically targeting these undertakings restrict competition by object, harming both authorised dealers and independent tuners. The decision emphasized that the defendants failed to demonstrate compliance with market share thresholds required for block exemption applicability and that the restrictions could not be justified by quality control or safety concerns. Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal, upholding the injunction against Porsche's contractual prohibitions on sales to tuning companies.