Fine for large car manufacturers due to cartel agreements

This article was last updated on April 2, 2025

Canada: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…

Fine for large car manufacturers due to cartel agreements

The European Commission has fined 15 car manufacturers because they have worked together in a cartel for years. The European Auto Borpen Organization (ACEA) is also fined. In total this amounts to 458 million euros.

The sixteenth company that was involved in cartel formation, Mercedes-Benz, is not a fine, because the company informed the European Commission of the existence of the cartel. All other manufacturers have recognized the committee that they were part of the cartel.

In a cartel, companies make price agreements, among other things. Something like that undermines the mutual competition, so that companies no longer strive for the best product for the best price. In the case of car manufacturers, the companies had made agreements about recycling old cars.

Car

They had agreed that they would not pay for companies those old cars, because they would make enough profit on the demolished parts. It was also agreed to not bring out what percent recycled material was processed in a new car or how much of an old car was reused.

“Their goal was to prevent consumers from taking information about recycling into consideration when choosing a car,” the European Commission writes. “This could reduce the pressure on companies to go beyond the legal requirements.”

Fifteen years

The cartel cooperation existed for more than fifteen years, between 2002 and 2017. The branch organization ACEA supervised the cartel. The cooperating car manufacturers were BMW, Ford, Honda, Hyundai/Kia, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Mitsubishi, Opel, Renault/Nissan, Stellantis, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.

Volkswagen (almost 128 million euros) will receive the highest fine. Last year the car company booked a net profit of 12.4 billion euros. Autog giant Stellantis has to pay nearly 75 million euros. The manufacturer saw his NettWinst fall last year to 5.5 billion euros.

With the fine, the European Commission says it has “taken a strong action against companies that are together to prevent competition in recycling”. The committee emphasizes that it does not tolerate any form of cartels, including the cartels that “customer consciousness and the demand for more climate -friendly products”.