The EU Commission has imposed a million fine against 15 car manufacturers and the European industry association due to anti-antitrust laws. It is about agreements for the collection, treatment and recycling scrap freet cars and vans, the authority announced on Tuesday.
Overall, the carmakers, including Volkswagen, Stellantis, Toyota and BMW as well as the industry association ACEA pay 458 million euros. Mercedes-Benz is also part of the circle of those involved, but assumes a crowned witness without punishment.
The EU Commission said that those involved in the cartel had agreed on the Recycling of the Alt cars for over 15 years. In 2022, the authorities searched the rooms of the carmakers and the association for the allegations.
Mercedes-Benz as a key witness unpunished
The VW group would therefore have to pay the highest fine with around 128 million euros, as the Commission announced on Tuesday. In the course of the decision, BMW would have to pay around 25 million euros, Stellantis around 75 million euros and Renault Around 81 million euros. Also Mitsubishi, ford, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Mazda, Opel, the parent company General Motors, Suzuki, Toyota and Volvo were part of the cartel, according to the Commission. The punishments amount to a total of 458 million euros.
According to Brussels, the carmakers have noticed that car dismantling do not pay for dismantling cars that are no longer traveling. The argument that manufacturers agreed on: the recycling of the old vehicles itself is a profitable business.
However, an EU law stipulates that owners of a car that is no longer traveling can get rid of their car free of charge if necessary – if necessary, the manufacturer must cover the costs. With this requirement, the EU wants to ensure that more cars are recycled.
The commission also accuses the carmakers of deliberately holding back information about the recycling of their vehicles. The companies had agreed not to provide voluntary information on which parts of the cars are recyclable and how high the proportion of recycled materials is on a vehicle.
According to the Commission, the allegations refer to a total period of 15 years, from May 2002 to September 2017. According to the Commission, the ACEA carmaker’s association organized the cartel and must therefore also pay a penalty of 500,000 euros.
To what extent the corporations accept the EU Commission’s punishment or whether they are against it was initially unclear.