The European Commission has fined 15 major car manufacturers and the European Automobiles Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) a total of around €458 million for participating in a long-lasting cartel concerning end-of-life vehicle recycling.
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All companies admitted their involvement in the cartel and agreed to settle the case.
An End-of-Life Vehicle (‘ELV') is a car that is no longer fit for use, either due to age, wear and tear, or damage. These vehicles are dismantled and processed for recycling, recovery, and disposal.
The Commission's investigation revealed that, for over 15 years, 16 major car manufacturers (including Mercedes, which was not fined) and ACEA entered into anticompetitive agreements and engaged in concerted practices related to the recycling of ELVs.
In particular, the Commission found that the parties colluded on two aspects:
• they agreed not to pay car dismantlers for processing ELVs. In particular, they agreed to consider the recycling of ELVs to be a sufficiently profitable business, and therefore not to remunerate car dismantlers for their services (so-called “Zero-Treatment-Cost” strategy). The companies also shared commercially sensitive information on their individual agreements with car dismantlers and coordinated their behaviour towards dismantlers;
• they agreed not to promote how much of an ELV can be recycled, recovered and reused and how much recycled material is used in new cars. Their goal was to prevent consumers from considering recycling information when choosing a car, which could lower the pressure on companies to go beyond legal requirements.
The fined companies include Stellantis, Ford Motor, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), Mitsubishi, Honda, Hyundai/Kia, Jaguar Land Rover/Tata, Mazda, Opel, General Motors, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo, and Renault/Nissan.
Among the penalized companies, Volkswagen received the largest fine at €127.7 million, followed by the Renault/Nissan group with €81.4 million, and Stellantis with €74.9 million.
Mercedes-Benz was also on the list, but was given full immunity by being the company to reveal the cartel; otherwise, it would’ve been subject to a fine of approximately €35 million. ■
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