CRA consultants advised counsel to Credit Acceptance Corporation (CAC) in defending litigation regarding alleged monopolization in the used automobile financing marketplace. Experts with CRA’s Competition and Financial Economics teams worked with CAC, a leading automobile financing firm, to prepare analyses to address monopolization allegations and rebut damages estimates by the expert for the plaintiff, Westlake Financial. Key issues were relevant product market definition, ease of entry/expansion by smaller lenders and dealer self-provided financing. Marsha Courchane and Andrew Dick provided expert reports and deposition testimony. The case against CAC was dismissed on summary judgment in January, 2018. In addition to Dr. Courchane and Dr. Dick, CRA’s team included Arthur Baines, Matthew List, and Adriana de la Huerta.
Data sharing in hybrid marketplaces with endogenous fee setting
The issue is especially timely given provisions in the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) designed to expand access to data held by large digital platforms. The...