Volkswagen, Stellantis and other carmakers hit with $495 million EU cartel fine

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hi_im_bored13@reddit

Other penalised members of the cartel included Toyota (7203.T), opens new tab, Mitsubishi (7211.T), opens new tab, Honda (7267.T), opens new tab, Hyundai (005380.KS), opens new tab, Jaguar Land Rover (TAMOJL.UL), Mazda (7261.T), opens new tab, GM (GM.N), opens new tab, Suzuki (7269.T), opens new tab and Volvo (VOLVb.ST), opens new tab.

so basically everyone lol

Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE), opens new tab avoided a fine for alerting the EU enforcer to the cartel.

snitch

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dsonger20@reddit

I’m more surprised at GM is there . I thought they completely pulled out of Europe.

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CaptainGo@reddit

Vauxhall/Opel is still around I think

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The_Exia@reddit

This is recycling old cars. GM may have pulled out but that doesn't mean they don't have a responsibility to the cars they did sell that are now getting old or are old and need to be disposed of.

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V8-Turbo-Hybrid@reddit

snitch

That’s how America gotten 25 years import ban, isn’t it ?

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Didn't Mercedes snitch on a prior cartel agreement a decade ago as well? And the whole 25 year import restriction in the US, and sue Scania a while back because their logo that looked completely different was actually the exact same as the silver arrows?

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stav_and_nick@reddit

Nice work if you can get it; profit from being part of the cartel, and then get rewarded for snitching

So that’s what, BMW, some of the Chinese bit players, and Ford then? Wonder if they declined or didn’t get invited

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hi_im_bored13@reddit

I’m curious if any of the chinese brands are actually old enough in europe to be EoL. Especially considering this EVs are relatively low maintainence

But yeah BMW always comes out clean, even around dieselgate they never got in trouble, they were just that damn good at diesels

Their quad turbo unit in the 7 series diesel is a sight to behold

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Mustangfast85@reddit

I think the only US diesel they sold had exhaust additive which is what the offending VW tried to circumvent. IIRC the diesel 3 series had a small hole for it in their rear bumper

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strongmanass@reddit

Prisoner's dilemma at work.

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F1_Geek@reddit

EU cartel?

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DudeWhereIsMyDuduk@reddit

I mean, if the Eurozone doesn't fit the definition...

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thefanciestcat@reddit

The EU competition watchdog said the companies agreed not to compete with each other in advertising the extent to which their cars could be recycled and agreed to keep quiet on how much recycled materials are used in new cars. They also agreed not to pay car dismantlers for processing the end-of-life vehicles. EU laws require carmakers to bear the costs of recyling such vehicles if needed, allowing car owners to dispose of cars free with a dismantler.

FAFO, dirtbags.

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Aromatic_Fail_1722@reddit

Although I don't think they should get away with it, I'm not sure NOW is a good time to give European car manufacturers heavy fines..

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hardinho@reddit

The German manufacturers are loaded with cash and assets and all made billions in profit in the"bars bad year" 2024. They'll survive. Trustee just crybabies.

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g-4-ces@reddit

How can you time something like this?

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Aromatic_Fail_1722@reddit

I know, tough. It's just a very critical time right now..

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Recoil42@reddit

It's always a critical time. Don't do shady shit, don't get fined. It's as simple as that. This money doesn't disappear, it goes right back into the EU to be diffused out across the population.

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PinkishOcean430@reddit

Hahahahah hahahahahahahaha

Wait... you're serious?!

HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA

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cryptobruih@reddit

You can time something like this to prevent huge amount of layoffs and collapsing of the original part manufacturers & 3rd party manufacturers etc.

It's a huge deal and literally it's not time to do this. Not in this economy and world.

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stav_and_nick@reddit

If VW is dead from a $130 million dollar fine, then it’s a corpse walking

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icecream_specialist@reddit

I'm personally more a fan of punishing executives directly over fining companies. And by punishing I don't mean they pay a fine

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durrtyurr@reddit

I'm ultra confused here, because I actually read the article. In the US if you have an End-Of-Life car you, as an individual, sell the car to a scrapyard (usually for a few hundred dollars), which then parts it out and then sells the remaining scrap metal for a profit. The automaker isn't involved at any stage of the entire process other than assembling it in the first place.

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aprtur@reddit

[This may help to understand what they're talking about] (https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/end-life-vehicles_en). This whole thing seems to be rooted in recycling of materials, and transparency of how much of the vehicle can be recycled at EoL. As for the covering of costs for an owner to dispose at end of life, I don't really understand that bit - I figured the same as you, where a yard pays the owner, but maybe there are instances of countries where that's not the case?

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aprtur@reddit

To quote the article:

They also agreed not to pay car dismantlers for processing the end-of-life vehicles. EU laws require carmakers to bear the costs of recyling such vehicles if needed, allowing car owners to dispose of cars free with a dismantler.

This is specifically an EU thing, so we don't have this system in the US.

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Car-face@reddit

said the cartel, which involved end-of-life vehicles, took place from May 2002 to September 2017

Thought I remembered hearing about this years ago, lol - surprised it's taken this long to get to a decision.

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