On July 10, 2013, the European Commission imposed fines totalling €141.8m on suppliers of wire harnesses Yazaki, Sumitomo, Furukawa, S-Y Systems Technologies and Leoni. Wire harnesses distribute electricity and information to different areas of a car, for example to start the motor or to open the window.
The fines relate to the supply of wire harnesses to four carmakers (Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Renault), and to five cartels relating to price coordination and supply allocation. Sumitomo received full immunity for revealing the existence of the cartel, which ended in 2009. Other suppliers of wire harnesses received fine reductions of between 20 and 50% for cooperation, and a further 10% as the companies reached settlement with the Commission. The fines imposed on the other suppliers besides Sumitomo ranged between €1.3m and €125m.
CRA assisted a major supplier throughout the European Commission’s investigation.
