An EU court sliced 5 million off an antitrust fine on PSA Peugeot SA but confirmed that the French car maker had illegally blocked Dutch car exports to other EU countries.
European Union antitrust regulators fined the company and its Dutch arm 49.5 million in 2005 for preventing car dealers selling exports to consumers outside the Netherlands between 1997 and 2003.
Prices of Peugeot cars in the Netherlands, before tax, were cheaper than in other countries and attracted buyers from France and Germany. The European Commission claimed that Peugeot tried to block sales by holding back sales bonuses to Dutch dealers who sold to foreigners.
The European Court of Instance said regulators had set the original fine too high and had exaggerated the damage that Peugeot had done to fair competition.
It brought Peugeot's fine down to 44.5 million but ordered it to pay 90 percent of their own and the European Commission's legal costs linked to the appeal. The EU's executive must bear the remaining 10 percent of both sides' legal costs.
