EU slaps record fine of €3 billion on truck firms

The European Union has slapped its biggest ever cartel fine, worth €3 billion, on five of Europe’s top truck producers for colluding to keep prices artificially high at the expense of consumers.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the European Commission said Daimler, DAF, Iveco, MAN and Volvo/Renault colluded over 14 years to fix prices. However, VW-owned MAN avoided a fine as it blew the whistle on the cartel. 

The company escaped a €1.2 billion fine for revealing the cartel, granting it full immunity.

EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the companies “colluded on the pricing and on passing on the costs for meeting environmental standards to customers.”

The fines are the highest the EU has ever imposed on a cartel, and more than double the previous record. Before Tuesday’s fine, the previous record was from 2012, when 7 companies were fined €1.47 billion for rigging the market of television and computer monitor tubes.

“These truck makers colluded for 14 years on truck pricing and on passing on the costs of compliance with stricter emission rules,” the EU statement said. 

The truck manufacturers were responsible for nine out of 10 of the medium and heavy trucks produced in Europe, Vestager said, adding that the fines are a clear “message to companies that cartels are not accepted.”

However, the EU 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.

The investigation found that between 1997 and 2004, meetings were held at senior manager level, sometimes at the margins of trade fairs or other events, to discuss their plans. This was complemented by phone conversations. 

From 2004 onwards, the cartel was organised via the truck producers’ German subsidiaries, with participants generally exchanging information by email.

Daimler received the biggest fine at €1.01 billion while Sweden’s Volvo was fined €670.4 million and Iveco, part of Italian truck and tractor maker CNH Industrial, was fined €494.6 million. 

DAF Trucks, owned by the US group Paccar, received a €752.7 million fine.

The four companies admitted wrongdoing in return for a 10% cut in their sanctions. 

Scania, another Volkswagen subsidiary, did not settle and will continue to be under investigation.

There are more than 30 million trucks on European roads, which account for around three quarters of inland transport of goods in Europe.