Mercedes

A distributor in one of this state’s most competitive fields —automobile sales—decided to include floor mats as standard equipment in its vehicles to compete with other car manufacturers which offer standard floor mats and to satisfy a perceived consumer demand for increasing levels of comfort and convenience in new automobiles. A floor mat manufacturer sued under the Cartwright Act, claiming that it was financially damaged because floor mats did not remain an optional accessory. We find no violation of California antitrust law and affirm the judgment in favor of the car distributor.

Facts

Respondent Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc. (Mercedes) sells luxury vehicles in the United States. Its sales represent less than 1 percent of all automobile sales in this country. Among luxury cars, Mercedes holds about a 10 percent market share.

Appellant Lloyd Design Corporation (Lloyd) manufactures and sells accessory floor mats for vehicles. Lloyd makes about 3,000,000 different combinations of floor mats. Lloyd sells floor mats to some Mercedes dealerships which, in turn, sell the mats to consumers. Because floor mats were optional accessories in Mercedes vehicles until…