GM's Opel Protests Hungary Procurement Act

09/17/96

Reuters has reported that Carmaker Adam Opel AG's Hungarian unit is considering legal steps to confront Hungary's Procurement Act, which excludes Opel from all public tenders until the year 2000.

Opel Hungary spokesperson Andras Danos said, "we think the Procurement Act is anti-constitutional and the management will consider steps on Monday."

Hungary's Procurement Act went into effect in November 1995 and prohibits public tenders by all car retailers that lost court cases or judgments by Hungary's Competition Court in the five years before the act was signed.

The Competition Court found Opel guilty of incorporating a customs duty surcharge into the price of some cars in September 1995. Danos said that Opel had refunded the difference to their clients, although one of the clients later made a complaint to the Competition Office.

The Prime Minister announced on Friday that Volkswagen Audi, Ford, Mercedes-Benz AG, and Skoda had all won a procurement tender. Danos said the procurement could mean sales of 5,000 to 10,000 cars over the next three years.

The latest complete statistics available showed that new car sales between January and April 1996 in Hungary totaled 19,276--4,047 of those were Opels. The Hungarian Car Importers Association expect total car sales of about 50,000 for the year. Annual sales peaked at 90,000 in 1994.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel