Truck manufacturers fined three billion euros for price fixing
Truck companies Daimler, DAF, and Volvo/Renault have been fined almost three billion euros for price fixing.
The three companies had been colluding on prices and passing on the costs of emissions-reducing technology for fourteen years, along with VW-owned MAN, but MAN avoided fines by reporting the cartel’s activities.
Daimler has claimed to regret its actions, and has received the biggest fine at 1.01 billion euros. It said in a statement: “The company has strengthened its internal controls, and has intensified its regular and comprehensive employee training with regard to antitrust law and competition law.”
While the fines make an example of the companies and ensure others know to not make the same mistakes, these four businesses are responsible for manufacturing nine out of 10 medium-and-heavy trucks in Europe between them, and therefore enjoy a certain degree of privilege.
All four admitted wrongdoing, ensuring a 10 percent cut in sanctions. Scania did not settle and its level of involvement is still under investigation.