Shanghai government officials raided the corporate offices of Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz automaker group. The raids are on the heels of accusations against Daimler for allegedly inflating the prices for auto parts to increase revenue. Bloomberg News reports that the auto giant was recently the target of a raid by Chinese officials who have been overwhelmed with consumer complaints.

Like Us on Facebook

In what appears to be Daimler's last-minute attempt to avoid punishment, the automaker had recently made the announcement that auto prices and parts would be lowered by 15 percent in September.

Evidently, this announcement was not sufficient enough to avoid a crackdown by government officials.

The following day after this announcement was made, Chinese officials raided the Shanghai-based offices and it was not immediately known what documents or other evidence were removed.

In an email to Bloomberg News, Senyol Bayrak, a spokesman for Daimler in China only provided a brief statement regarding the raid.

"We confirm that we are assisting the authorities in their investigation," he disclosed.

No other comment was provided by Bayrak regarding the investigation or the raid.

During the raid, nine senior-level officials with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) anti-monopoly division were present to question the staff.

If the NDRC determines that the automaker has been in violation of China's stiff anti-monopoly regulations, there may be hefty fines levied.

Typically, fines can amount from one percent to ten percent of an automaker's total revenue from the year before.

Several other auto manufacturers have also been placed under investigation by the NDRC for allegedly failing to uphold industry standards for determining prices for auto parts and vehicles.

Han Weiqi, a Shanghai-based analyst at CSC International Holdings has mentioned that this particular raid against Daimler seems somewhat unusual.

"The timing is a bit confusing. It may be because the cut hasn't met the authorities' expectations," he alleged.

TagsMerecedes-Benz, Daimler AG