The exemption should therefore not cover vertical agreements containing any direct or indirect obligation or incentive which leads to the linking of sales and servicing activities or which makes the performance of one of these activities dependent on the performance of the other; this is in particular the case where the remuneration of distributors or authorised repairers relating to the purchase or sale of goods or services necessary for one activity is made dependent on the purchase or sale of goods or services relating to the othe ...[+++]r activity, or where all such goods or services are indistinctly aggregated into a single remuneration or discount system.

The specific issues that may influence each scenario are: the link between sales of new motor vehicles and after-sales services, multi-branding for sales and after-sales services, access to technical information for independent repairers, distribution of original spare parts, dealer remuneration, allocation of vehicles (and particularly the "first come first served" principle), direct sales, the role of intermediaries, and the availability clause .

These themes are: the lifting of all barriers to establishing a service company; facilitating cross-border purchase of services; distribution; promotional activities; sales (eg contracting, rules on pricing) and after-sales service.

(10) So as to give firms greater legal certainty, certain obligations imposed on the dealer that do not stand in the way of exemption should be specified regarding the observation of minimum distribution and servicing standards (Article 4 (1) (1)), regularity of orders (Article 4 (1) (2)), the achievement of quantitative sales or stock targets agreed by the parties or determined by an expert third party in the event of disagreement (Article 4 (1) (3) to (5)) and the arrangements made for after-sales service (Article 4 (1) (6) to (9).

(1) both parties to the agreement or their connected undertakings are motor vehicle manufacturers; or (2) the parties link their agreement to stipulations concerning products or services other than those referred to in this Regulation or apply their agreement to such products or services; or (3) in respect of motor vehicles having three or more road wheels, spare parts or services therefor, the parties agree restrictions of competition that are not expressly exempted by this Regulation; or (4) in respect of motor vehicles having three or more road wheels or spare parts therefor, the parties make agreements or engage in concerted pract ...[+++]ices which are exempted from the prohibition in Article 85 (1) of the Treaty under Regulations (EEC) No 1983/83 or (EEC) No 1984/83 to an extent exceeding the scope of this Regulation; or (5) the parties agree that the supplier reserves the right to conclude distribution and servicing agreements for contract goods with specified further undertakings operating within the contract territory, or to alter the contract territory; or (6) the manufacturer, the supplier or another undertaking directly or indirectly restricts the dealer's freedom to determine prices and discounts in reselling contract goods or corresponding goods; or (7) the manufacturer, the supplier or another undertaking within the network directly or indirectly restricts the freedom of final consumers, authorized intermediaries or dealers to obtain from an undertaking belonging to the network of their choice within the common market contract goods or corresponding goods or to obtain servicing for such goods, or the freedom of final consumers to resell the contract goods or corresponding goods, when the sale is not effected for commercial purposes; or (8) the supplier, without any objective reason, grants dealers remunerations calculated on the basis of the place of destination of the motor vehicles resold or the place of residence of the purchaser; or (9) the supplie ...

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