By its decision, the Commission had fined Volkswagen for systematically forcing its authorised dealers in Italy to refuse to sell Volkswagen and A
udi cars to foreign buyers. In 1995, the Commis
sion had received a large number of complaints from consumers who had had difficulty buying new cars in Italy. In its decision, t
he Commission found that Volkswagen, Audi and Volkswagen's Italian subsidiary Autogerma had devis
ed, in con ...[+++]cert with their Italian dealers, a strategy aimed at preventing, or at least substantially restricting, sales from Italy to other Member States, especially Germany and Austria.
Dans sa décision, la Commission a constaté que Volkswagen, sa filiale italienne Autogerma, et Audi avaient mis au point avec leurs concessionnaires italiens une stratégie visant à empêcher, ou du moins à limiter substantiellement les ventes en provenance d'Italie vers d'autres États membres, en particulier l'Allemagne et l'Autriche.