Takeover could throttle rivals to Trade Me Motors, submitter warns watchdog TOM PULLAR-STRECKERDAVID HALLET/STUFF Motorcentral has a strong grip on independent dealers that aren't allied to manufacturers' franchised chains, and who might not find it worth the hassle to advertise other than on Trade Me Motors, a submission warns. Trade Me's proposed acquisition of software firm Motorcentral has run into strong opposition from an objector who warns it could "throttle" rivals to Trade Me Motors, such as Autotrader. But an anonymous submitter told the watchdog that Trade Me could use control over Motorcentral to steer dealers away from advertising their vehicles on sites other than Trade Me Motors. READ MORE:* AutoTrader ticketed for false web claim* Trade Me Motor's top listings* Trade Me buys MotorWeb for $19.5 million* Trade Me pays $11.5m for AutoBaseWilliams King said he could not comment further as Autotrader was also in discussions with the commission about the proposed takeover. One feature of its software allows dealers to upload details of their vehicles to Trade Me Motors, Autotrader, ListSellTrade, and other classified sites.

Source: Stuff August 18, 2017 22:52 UTC