March 29/2004
Japan Fair Trade Commission
The Fair Trade Commission conducted an investigation into Mack Corporation Limited Liability Company (yugenkaisha) (hereinafter referred to as “Mack Corporation”), a used car dealer company, and,today, issued a warning to it to the effect that there is a possibility that Mack Corporation is in violation of Section 4 (1) (i) (prohibition of misleading representations) of the Premiums and Representations Act.
1. Profile of concerned party Company name:
Mack Corporation Limited Liability Company (yugenkaisha)
2. Outline of warning
(1) Outline of suspected violation
When selling eight used vehicles, which were put on display at the display area of Mack Corporation, to general consumers around January 2004, Mack Corporation made a representation that led to the suspicion that it was representing that the eight vehicles were much better than the actual vehicles, as shown below. Although the mileages of the vehicles that were shown in the exhibit catalogs for auction at the time of purchase are the figures shown in column A of the attachment, and the mileages shown in the odometers are the figures shown in column B of the attachment, Mack Corporation showed the mileages shown in column C of the attachment, which were less than the actual mileages, in the KACCHAO Tohoku (dated February 28, 2004), a used car magazine, sold on January 30, 2004, and in Goo Tohoku (dated February 8, 2004), a used car magazine, sold on January 9, 2004.
(2) Details of warning
There is a possibility that the acts described in (1) above will be in violation of the provision of Section 4 (1) (i) of the Premiums and Representations Act. The Fair Trade Commission has therefore issued a warning to the effect that Mack Corporation should not make any similar representation in the future.
Attachment
| No. | Type | Vehicle number | mileage shownin the exhibit catalog of the Auction (km) (A) |
Displayed mileage (km) (B) |
Display of mileage in used car magazines (Thousand km) (C) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tohoku edition of Kacchao (Feb 26, 2004) |
Tohoku edition of Goo (Feb 8, 2004) |
|||||
| 1 | Cedlic Wagon (1993) | WY30-505389 | 161,600 | 161,666 | 80 | 80 |
| 2 | Legend β | KA7-1204122 | 142,929 | 144,851 | 101 | 101 |
| 3 | Cima (1994) | FGY32-401338 | 118,888 | 119,005 | 98 | 98 |
| 4 | Cedric (1989) | Y31-157210 | 168,509 | 168,649 | 98 | 98 |
| 5 | Land Cruiser (1990) | 0000161 | (Note 1) ? 8,896 |
15,401 | 80 | No ad. |
| 6 | Hilux Surf (1993) | LN1300121566 | 118,647 | (Note 2) approx. 120,000 |
No ad. | No ad. |
| 7 | Savanna RX7 (1989) | FC3S-200765 | 139,085 | (Note 3) approx. 140,000 |
No ad. | No ad. |
| 8 | Setina (1993) | HDES107159 | 95,106 | 95,162 | No ad. | No ad. |
(Note1)The exhibition catalog of Vehicle of No5 shows the mileage as”?8,896”km and its remark shows “the mileage is not unknown as the odometer was changed at 101,050km. The current one shows "8,896km.”
(Note2)The mileage of the vehicleNo6 is assumption because it had already been sold as of February 3, 2004.
(Note3)The mileage of the vehicleNo7 is assumption because it had already been sold as of February 3, 2004.
*Every announcement is tentative translation. Please refer to the original text written in Japanese.
