crowe often writes with raul galagos..you scared me with this one but the only news i found yesterday from darcy was this..is there something else out there?

Venezuelan Lawmakers To Review Car Pricing By Dealerships

CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- The Venezuela National Assembly established a special commission to investigate possible price manipulation by car dealerships, the government news agency reported Tuesday.

Luis Camargo, a lawmaker who will be part of the commission, said that car dealerships are apparently taking advantage of higher demand for vehicles "and are increasing prices in a speculative way."

The Venezuelan dealership association responded by saying recent price increases are the result of a decrease in the supply of new automobiles.

Carmakers complain that they aren't being allocated enough dollars to import the components they need to carry out production in Venezuela. General Motors Corp. (GM) has been temporarily forced to halt production in Venezuela, as it is having difficulties importing the necessary parts for its assembly plant.

The government also imposed quotas on imports at the beginning of the year in a bid to make large car companies assemble their automobiles in Venezuela.

Sales of imported cars in June fell 64%, according to figures released earlier this month by the Cavenez automobile chamber. Sales of nationally manufactured cars, however, also dropped 19.3%.

-By Darcy Crowe, Dow Jones Newswires; (58) 212 905 6304; darcy.crowe@ dowjones.com

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  (END) Dow Jones Newswires
  07-15-081221ET
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