BRUSSELS -- Germany's Mahle Behr, France's Valeo and Japan's Denso and three other suppliers have been fined a total of 155 million euros ($163.6 million) by the European Union's competition authorities for having operated cartels in a number of their markets.
The ruling by the European Commission is the sixth to be made since it started investigating the automotive components industry several years ago. The four cartels identified on Wednesday related to air conditioning and engine cooling systems which operated until 2009 and started as early as 2004.
The EU's action follows a similar ongoing investigation of auto suppliers by the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust unit -- the largest investigation in U.S. antitrust history. On Tuesday, German auto supplier Kiekert AG agreed to pay a $6.1 million fine to settle charges that it rigged the price of side-door latches and modules sold to Ford Motor Co.
Mahle Behr was fined 62.1 million euros while Japan's Sanden must pay 64.6 million euros and Denso 322,000 euros. The penalty imposed on Valeo is 26.7 million euros and Calsonic must pay 1.7 million euros. Panasonic avoided a fine as it alerted the Commission to one of the cartels. All the companies admitted wrongdoing in return for a 10 percent reduction in their fines.
The cartels affected Volkswagen Group, BMW Group, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Suzuki, Nissan, Renault and Jaguar Land Rover.
"Today's decision underlines that we do not accept cartels that affect the European market, wherever and however they may be organized, "European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.
The markets for other vehicle components still on the Commission's radar include car seats, steering systems, electrolytic capacitors and exhaust pipes.
In the U.S., 48 companies including Kiekert, along with 65 executives, have been charged in the ongoing antitrust investigation and have agreed to more than $2.9 billion in criminal fines.
Automotive News contributed to this report.
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