Antitrust: Commission fines producers of car and truck bearings € 953 million in cartel settlement

EU News 122/2014

IP/14/280
Brussels, 19 March 2014

The European Commission has found that two European companies (SKF and Schaeffler) and four Japanese companies (JTEKT, NSK, NFC and NTN with its French subsidiary NTN-SNR) operated a cartel in the market for automotive bearings. The Commission has imposed fines totalling € 953 306 000. Automotive bearings are used by car, truck and car part manufacturers to reduce friction between moving parts inside a vehicle.

Cars and trucks contain numerous bearings, for example wheel bearings, bearings for gearbox, transmission, alternator or air conditioning systems. The companies colluded to secretly coordinate their pricing strategy vis-à-vis automotive customers for more than seven years, from April 2004 until July 2011, in the whole European Economic Area (EEA).

Source and additional information:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-280_en.htm?locale=en

Joaquín Almunia Date: 19/03/2014 Reference: P-025255/00-04 Location: Brussels - EC/Berlaymont (C)EU, 2014 URL

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