EU: Record cartel fine on truck makers could be coming

The EU is set to issue the biggest cartel fine in its history, punishing Europe’s largest truckmakers over charges that they fixed prices and delayed the introduction of new emission technologies.

Margrethe Vestager, EU competition commissioner, issued the original charge sheet against DAF, Daimler, Iveco, Scania, MAN and Volvo/Renault in 2014. Four of those companies have now set aside provisions amounting to $2.6bn.

People close to the discussions on penalties say that they are expecting the fine this year, possibly within weeks, unless there is a reversal by the European Commission.

The expected fine easily outstrips the EU’s previous record of €1.4bn for a television and computer monitor tubes cartel in 2012, and dwarfs those imposed over euro and yen interest rate derivative cartels. Ms Vestager has compared the action against the truckmakers to her landmark antitrust showdowns with Google, the US search group, and Gazprom, Russia’s gas export monopoly.

Her probe focuses on the behaviour of the six companies between 1997 and 2011, according to documents seen by the Financial Times. The charges describe several ways in which the manufacturers allegedly colluded on price. Most sensitively after the Volkswagen scandal, the companies are also accused of agreeing the “timing and price increase levels for the introduction of new emission technologies”.

Full Content: Financial Times

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