Brussels has opened an in-depth antitrust probe into the $50bn merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA amid concerns that the deal “may reduce competition” in the lucrative small commercial vans market.
The second-phase investigation was launched on Wednesday after the two carmakers failed to offer any concessions to the European Commission to assuage worries over their potential dominance in the market.
Their failure to bow to earlier demands was first reported by the Financial Times last week, when the deadline of June 10 passed without concessions being offered.
The two businesses would become the world’s fourth-largest carmaker if the merger were completed and would control about a third of the European vans market, more than double their closest competitors Renault and Ford.
Margrethe Vestager, the commission’s executive vice-president, and responsible for competition policy, said: “[Commercial vans] are a growing market and increasingly important in a digital economy where private consumers rely more than ever on delivery services.
“Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot, with their large portfolio of brands and models, have a strong position in commercial vans in many European countries.”
A deeper probe into the vans business was expected by the companies, which built it into a deal timetable that is expected to involve the merger closing in the first quarter of next year.
EU regulators have 90 working days, until October 22, to make a decision. The deal can still be blocked, approved without conditions or waived with remedies.
The deal has already received clearance from antitrust regulators in China, Japan, the US and Russia, but the overlap between the groups in Europe was always expected to be a sticking point for competition authorities.
Although the carmakers have a joint venture producing vans in the region already, the vehicles compete with each other on the forecourts, the commission argued.
“In many countries, either PSA or FCA is already the market leader in light commercial vehicles, and the merger would remove one of the main competitors,” it said.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, PSA and FCA said: “Both companies will continue to co-operate with the EC to answer its questions in the same constructive spirit that has defined our proposed merger from the start.
“As we continue to make progress through our cross-company project teams, we will be detailing to the EC — and other regulators — the substantial benefits of the proposed merger to our customers, the European industry and each company.”
