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EU slaps record cartel fine of $3.24 billion on truck firms

The move came after a probe into several European truck makers amid suspicions they fixed prices and colluded on timing over when to implement new emissions control technologies, the report said.

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The charge sheet includes accusations of price-fixing, but also alleges the existence of a secret agreement by the companies to delay and then pass on the costs of anti-pollution technology to consumers.

Together the targeted companies account for 90 per cent of all medium and heavy trucks produced in Europe.

Swedish truck maker Volvo in late June boosted its provision to a total of 650 million euro.

They discussed their envisaged gross list price increases for medium and heavy trucks, which were the basis for the prices in the industry. Between 1997 and 2004, meetings were held at senior manager level, sometimes at the margins of trade fairs or other events and these conspiracies were compounded by phone conversations. In the context of this investigation, proceedings were also opened with regard to Scania.

Scania, another Volkswagen subsidiary, did not settle and will continue to be under investigation. So-called Euro 1 standards were unveiled in 1993 and since the start of 2014 any new vehicle must comply with Euro VI standards.

But the European Union said the collusion was not aimed at avoiding or manipulating compliance with the new emission standards, nor did its investigation find any evidence of the use of emissions cheating software.

Daimler got the largest penalty of 1.01 billion euros and DAF will pay 752.7 million euros as part of a settlement with the European Commission that cut potential fines by at least 10 percent.

Daimler has said it has provisioned for more than 600 million euro in connection with the probe, while Iveco has said that it set aside around US$500 million. “The cheapest thing of course is not to participate in a cartel”. “We are now able to look forward and focus on our business”, Volvo president and CEO Martin Lundstedt said. “The Volvo Group has always competed for every single transaction”, he added.

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The companies involved received a 10% reduction in their fines after cooperating with the investigation.

EU to impose record fine on truck cartel