Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric Get Fined for Auto Parts Price-Fixing

According to reports, Japanese companies Hitachi and Mitsubishi have been fined €137.8m (£105m) by European Union regulators for fixing the price of starters and alternators.

Denso, also a Japanese company and the second largest auto parts manufacturer in the world, has evaded a fine for reporting to the authorities the existence of the cartel.

In a statement, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager revealed that the companies met at each other’s offices and restaurants to set prices between 2004 and 2010. She noted that breaking cartels remains a top priority for the Commission especially when they affect key consumer goods, such as cars. “Today’s decision sanctions three car part producers whose collusion affected component costs for a number of car manufacturers selling cars in Europe, and ultimately European consumers buying them.”

Vestager concluded that if European consumers are affected by a cartel, the Commission would investigate it even if the cartel meetings took place outside Europe.

As a result of Hitachi and Mitsubishi’s cooperation in the case, their fines will be reduced by 10 percent.

The Commission’s decision is part of a series of investigations into cartels in the automotive industry and it has already issued fines for suppliers of automotive wire harnesses, bearings, foam used in car seats and parking heaters. Moreover, it is investigating possible cartels in car lighting, car thermal systems, steering wheels, seatbelts, electro capacitors and car exhaust systems, among others.