Chinese authorities have ruled that Mercedes-Benz has violated provisions of the country’s anti-monopoly law – adding another high-profile foreign investor to the growing list of casualties from China’s car industry probe.

Yesterday, the official Xinhua news agency reported that an investigator in eastern Jiangsu province had found that the carmaker, a division of Germany’s Daimler, had “controlled prices of spare parts and repair and maintenance in downstream markets”.

Over recent weeks, officials of China’s National Development and Reform Commission have raided Mercedes-Benz dealerships and sales offices in Jiangsu, and in the neighbouring city of Shanghai. Daimler confirmed the Shanghai raid this month and said it was co-operating with the NDRC in the investigation.