Stellantis Korea, which sells imported car brands such as Jeep and Peugeot, was found to have violated dealership personnel rights and demanded sensitive management data, resulting in sanctions by the Fair Trade Commission.
On the 4th, the Fair Trade Commission announced that it would impose corrective orders on Stellantis Korea for violating the Act on Fair Transactions in Dealer Transactions.
Stellantis Korea is a Korean corporation wholly funded by its U.S. headquarters, conducting imported car sales business domestically. The Fair Trade Commission's sanctions were due to the company's actions infringing on dealership management autonomy by using their superior position in transactions.
According to the Fair Trade Commission, Stellantis Korea required dealerships to obtain prior approval from the headquarters when hiring key personnel and demanded the submission of sales personnel replenishment plans from some dealerships.
Additionally, Stellantis Korea requested profit and loss data, including sales prices and revenue for each product, and pressured dealerships by deducting 0.2% from incentives if the data was not submitted within the deadline. The Fair Trade Commission regarded these demands as unjust requests for trade secrets.
A Fair Trade Commission official said, "It is a case of detecting and sanctioning a headquarters engaging in the imported car sales business for unfairly using their superior position in transactions to interfere with dealership management activities."