Van Miert confident on car case

KAREL VAN MIERT, the EU competition chief (pictured), believes the European Commission will prove that car maker DaimlerChrysler AG had acted illegally in some of its vehicle sales practices.

The US-German car group denies there is any basis for the Commission's charges, laid out in a statement of objections last month. The Commission formally warned DaimlerChrysler in April over European sales practices of its Mercedes-Benz unit between 1985 and 1996, a step which could result in a heavy fine for the company.