Volkswagen Does Not Have to Face $750M Pevent Suit

Volkswagen (VW) doesn’t have to face a US$750 million US lawsuit by a unit of parts supplier Prevent that alleged the carmaker sought to strangle its business over a pricing dispute, reported Bloomberg.

US District Judge Bernard Friedman on Monday, March 22, threw out a 2019 antitrust suit filed by Prevent USA accusing VW — then the world’s largest carmaker — of launching a corporate dirty-tricks campaign to interfere with its acquisitions, cut it off as a supplier and make an example of the Bosnia-based firm.

The case was among more than a half-dozen suits the two companies have filed against each other in three countries regarding a 2016 pricing squabble over Prevent’s decision to cut off parts supplies to VW. Judges in Germany have split their rulings in the cases.

Friedman said Prevent’s suit was a “continuation of an ongoing dispute” currently before the German courts over the company’s allegations VW is trying to drive it out of business. The judge threw it out on procedural grounds, finding the case should be heard in Germany.

“We are pleased the court recognized this case for what it was: A dispute with no connection to the United States that never belonged in the US courts,” Volkswagen spokesman Christopher Hauss said in a statement

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