EU raids companies and associations involved in that sector
BMW said it wasn’t raided but will hand over information.
Mercedes-Benz Group AG said it expects to be let off the hook for any fines after blowing the whistle to European Union antitrust regulators probing suspected collusion in the collection and recycling of scrapped cars and vans.
The carmaker announced its involvement after the EU revealed on Tuesday that its antitrust officials had conducted so-called dawn raids on the premises of companies and associations.
The firms, which weren’t identified, may have broken rules banning collusion such as price-fixing agreements, regulators said. The EU coordinated its action with the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority
Mercedes-Benz said it’s cooperating with the European Commission and the CMA on the matter and has applied for leniency. As a consequence it doesn’t expect to be fined. BMW AG said in a separate statement it received a request for information from the EU authority but its locations weren’t searched. The carmaker will examine the matter and answer the request, it said. Volkswagen AG declined to comment.
Opel, a Stellantis NV subsidiary, said in a statement that it had been raided was cooperating with the authorities.
Every year, around 12 million cars leave European roads for a variety of reasons including being written off or non-compliance with new standards, according to a 2021 study by the Heinrich-Boell foundation. There’s a huge gray market with only two out of three end-of-life vehicles delivered to an authorized treatment facility. EU legislation puts the responsibility on managing old vehicles on the companies that brought them onto the road. About 85% of a car’s weight needs to be recycled or reused.
The auto industry has become a serial antitrust offender in recent years. In a cartel probe over trucks, Volkswagen’s Scania unit was fined for colluding over 14 years with five other manufacturers on pricing and over costs to meet stricter emission rules. The penalty was the EU’s second-highest ever for one company in a price-fixing case, topped only by a 1.01 billion-euro penalty in the same case for Daimler AG, which last year was split into Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck AG.
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