€485 million EU fine for 15 car brands and ACEA for recycling cartel

The European Commission has fined 15 major automakers 485 million euros for participating in a cartel involving the recycling of end-of-life vehicles. The fines apply to BMW, Ford, Volkswagen, Volvo, and the European automobile trade association ACEA, among others. All companies admitted involvement in the cartel and agreed to the settlement.

Mercedes-Benz escaped a fine of about 35 million euros because the brand disclosed the cartel. Stellantis, Mitsubishi, and Ford received reductions for cooperating with the Commission. Volkswagen received the most significant penalty, a fine of 127.7 million euros.

“We do not tolerate cartels. Not even cartels that suppress customer awareness and demand for more environmentally friendly products,” said the European Commissioner for Competition Teresa Ribera.

Junkyards were not paid

The major carmakers and the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) agreed between 2002 and 2017 that they would not pay junkyards to process and recycle end-of-life vehicles.

According to the car companies and ACEA, recycling was profitable enough on its own. They also shared information about their separate agreements with those companies.

They also tried to prevent consumers from using recycling information when choosing a car to reduce pressure on the companies to do more than was legally required. They did so, for example, by not promoting how much of an end-of-life vehicle could be recycled.

ACEA played a key role

In addition to the 127.7 million euros fine for Volkswagen, Renault/Nissan and Stellantis, known for brands such as Peugeot, Citroën, and Fiat, were the most heavily penalized.

They must pay 81.5 million euros and 74.9 million euros, respectively. Ford, BMW, and Toyota were fined 41.5 million euros, 24.6 million euros, and 23.5 million euros, respectively.

ACEA, the industry’s main lobby, was punished with a 500,000 euro fine for playing a key role in the cartel by facilitating exchanges between the manufacturers involved.

The British competition authority, the CMA, was also involved in the investigation. It fined ten manufacturers, including Jaguar Land Rover and Vauxhall, 77.6 million pounds, or about 93 million euros.

In a response, ACEA announced that it does not plan to appeal. It also noted that the “infringement has not harmed consumers” and that “manufacturers have continued to improve recyclability – today, almost 90% of car parts and materials scrapped in the EU are reused and recycled.”