EC fines secret cartels in the automotive industry €546 million

The European Commission determined on Wednesday that four companies in the automotive industry must pay a total of €546 million ($673 million) in fines due to secret collusion in cartels.

These are cartels in the shipping of new vehicles, as well as in the production of spark plugs and braking systems. Such illegal secret agreements raise vehicle prices and harm the industry, according to the EC’s explanation.

“Cartels ultimately harmed European consumers and negatively affected the competitiveness of the European automotive sector, which employs about 12 million workers in the EU,” said Margrethe Vestager, the EC Commissioner for Competition.

>>> Der Spiegel: VW, Audi, Porsche, BMW, and Daimler formed a ‘secret cartel’

In the sector of transporting cars, trucks, tractors, and other large vehicles, the Chilean shipping company CSAV, Japanese carriers “K” Line, MOL, and NYK, as well as the Norwegian-Swedish transport company WWL-EUKOR, were fined a total of €395 million for cartel collusion from 2006 to 2012.

These companies transported nearly half of the vehicles in the EU’s trade with other parts of the world in 2016, the Commission notes. They coordinated sales tactics at meetings in offices and at places like bars and restaurants, the statement adds.

The German manufacturer Bosch and Japanese companies Denso and NKG were negotiating the division of the spark plug market and coordinating sales tactics. Denso informed the EC about such secret activities and was exempted from paying a fine, while the other two companies received a total fine of €76 million.

The Commission received information about two more cartels in the braking systems market, during the period from 2007 to 2011, in which German companies Bosch and Continental, as well as TRW, a former American company now also under German ownership, participated. They were fined a total of €75 million.