China to rein in luxury car prices with parallel imports

Shanghai

CHINA is taking aim again at foreign luxury carmakers such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz by allowing unauthorised dealers to sell imported cars - so-called "parallel imports" - in a move to rein in high-end car prices.

Publicly, Beijing says that a pilot scheme, which officially kicks off in Shanghai's free trade zone next week, will promote competition and give consumers more choice, but people close to policymakers say that it's the latest in a series of measures aimed at bringing down prices that are far higher in China than elsewhere.