Japanese Auto-Parts Makers Found Guilty For Price-Fixing
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Nine Japanese automotive suppliers, including Hitachi Automotive Systems and Mitsubishi Electric, will pay nearly $740 million in fines for conspiring to fix the prices of more than 30 different auto-parts sold to car manufacturers in the U.S., AFP reported on Thursday, with more than 25 million cars purchased by American consumers believed to have been affected by the illegal conduct.
Nine Japanese automotive suppliers, including Hitachi Automotive Systems and Mitsubishi Electric, will pay nearly $740 million in fines for conspiring to fix the prices of more than 30 different auto-parts sold to car manufacturers in the U.S., AFP reported on Thursday, with more than 25 million cars purchased by American consumers believed to have been affected by the illegal conduct.
The U.S. Justice Department announced the fines after what it claimed to be the largest-ever criminal antitrust investigation in its history, spanning from 2000 to 2012, with a total of 20 companies and 21 executives having been under the agency’s microscope.
“These international price-fixing conspiracies affected more than $5 billion in automobile parts sold to US car manufacturers, and more than 25 million cars purchased by American consumers were affected by the illegal conduct,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
[quote]“As a result of these conspiracies, Americans paid more for their cars,” he noted.[/quote]The Japanese automotive suppliers were charged for fixing the prices of several parts including seat belts, radiators, windshield wipers and air-conditioning systems. They were sold to U.S. car manufacturers such as Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, as well as the American subsidiaries of Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota.
Hitachi Automotive Systems and Mitsubishi Electric paid the largest fines at $195 million and $190 million respectively. The other companies charged were Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Jtekt Corp., Mitsuba Corp., NSK Ltd., T.RAD Co. Ltd., Valeo Japan Co. Ltd. and Yamashita Rubber Co. Ltd.
17 of the 21 executives under investigation have already been sentenced to prison or have entered into plea agreements that call for prison sentences. Last year Denso and Yazaki , two of Japan’s biggest car parts manufacturers, also agreed to pay $548million in fines for fixing prices; and in 2011 Furukawa Electric agreed to pay a $200 million fine under the same car parts probe.
“The Department of Justice will continue to crack down on cartel behaviour that causes American consumers and businesses to pay higher prices for the products and services they rely upon in their everyday lives,” Holder said.
[quote]”As we have uncovered each auto part conspiracy, we have continued to find more and more parts that are involved,” he added.[/quote]Related: Europe’s Oil Price-Fixing Scandal: The Next Libor?
Related: EU Slaps $1.96 Billion Fine On Electronics Firms For Price-Fixing
Related: Major American Banks, Visa, and Mastercard Accused of Price Fixing
The U.S. Justice Department had coordinated its investigation alongside both EU and Japanese law enforcement authorities. Scott D. Hammond, assistant attorney general of the Antitrust Division’s Criminal Enforcement Program, told the New York Times that some of the allegations regarding to price-fixing had been originally discovered by the Japan Fair Trade Commission.
