Mike Uryniak
Professor Elizabeth Tolman
MIS 315
Module 10: AutoXchange
1. Who do you think would pay the cost for suppliers to put their parts catalogs onto these
marketplaces like AutoXchange? Who should have paid costs?
Suppliers had a limited interest in participating in AutoXchange, because they would have to pay the
costs of entering their product information in AutoXchange databases. The industry was the primary
benefactor of AutoXchange. They should have offered to pay the vendors for their costs of
participation.
2. What were the benefits of these systems and who would reap them?
The auto manufacturers stood to benefit the most from large scale marketplaces where thousands of
suppliers worldwide would compete for sales to the big ten automakers. Suppliers faced risks, such
as, extensive competition and pressure to lower quality in favor of price.
3. Why did the Federal Trade Commission open an investigation of these marketplaces?
Net marketplaces owned by an industry, over the suppliers’ and buyers’ new opportunities to collude
on prices, and restrict competition, through a variety of formal and informal agreements. The
potential for monopolistic control over the auto parts supply business worried the Fair-Trade
Commission and the Justice Department.