The Federal Trade Commission, putting aside antitrust concerns, has approved the formation of Covisint, a colossal online marketplace for the world’s largest automakers, according to a Reuters report.
The commission, which voted, 4-0, with one abstention, to allow the venture to proceed, said the government “cannot say that implementation of the Covisint venture will not cause competitive concerns” and it “reserved the right to take such further action as the public interest may require.”
Covisint is an Internet marketplace joint venture of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG, Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co , along with two information technology companies, Commerce One Inc. and Oracle Corp. It will begin by offering auctions and catalogs, expanding to supply-chain management and product-development features early next year.
The five automakers will eventually funnel their combined annual spending of $300 billion through the single Internet portal, while suppliers would potentially add another $500 billion in annual spending, according figures previously released by Covisint.
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