On Wednesday 21 June, the European Commission handed down fines of a total of €26.74 million to Automotive Lighting and Hella for their participation in a cartel in the field of vehicle lighting with Valeo.
The cartel between the three companies related to the supply of headlamps and daytime running lights to manufacturers of private cars and utility vehicles after series production of a model of vehicle comes to an end. The manufacturers met, mainly on a bilateral basis, for more than three years to agree on prices and other terms of sale for their co-contractors in the European Economic area (EEA).
The companies mainly discussed quotations for tenders and negotiation strategies. They also agreed on price increases for spare parts sold to purchasers and on the duration of the contractual availability of these spare parts after the end of mass production of specific models. The European Commission concluded that the practices in question breached the rules of EU competition law.
Although all three companies acknowledged their participation in the cartel, Valeo was granted full immunity for revealing the existence of the cartel, hence avoiding a fine of more than €30.5 million. Automotive Lighting and Hella cooperated with the Commission in its investigation, which earned them a partial reduction of their fines. They must therefore pay €16,347,000 and €10,397,000 respectively.
This is not a stand-alone decision, as it comes in the framework of a series of Commission investigations into cartels between companies in the vehicle spare part sector. The institution fined manufacturers of air conditioning and engine cooling systems on 8 March this year (see EUROPE 11741). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)