European truck makers
including Daimler AG, Volvo AB and Renault SA are said to face the biggest
cartel fine in EU history, according to London-based Financial Times.
The
penalty could be imposed within weeks over charges the companies fixed prices
and colluded to delay new emissions-control equipment, the newspaper reported,
citing people close to the matter.
The fine could surpass the record €1.4 billion
($1.6 billion) in penalties imposed over television-tube price fixing in 2012.
The move would appear to follow a probe of Europe’s six dominant truck makers
between 1997 and 2011.
Cartels can
face fines of as much as 10 percent of global revenue under EU rules,
meaning payments ordered from the truck makers involved could total a maximum
of €10.7 billion, the Financial Times
reported.
Among companies, DAF NV is reported to have
set aside $945 million to cover the possible penalties, while Daimler has
prepared $672 million, Iveco Ltd. $500 million and Volvo $444 million,
according to the newspaper’s report.
MAN SE, allegedly the whistleblower in the
case, would normally escape fines, while Volkswagen AG unit Scania said it had
not set aside cash for the fine, according to the Financial Times.
Why MAN SE should be the alleged ‘whistleblower’
is somewhat mystifying as MAN and Scania are part of Volkswagen AG. It would
not appear, at first sight, in MAN SE’s best interests to be seen as a ‘whistleblower’
in a legal issue that could affect its parent company.
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