BMW and Volkswagen Group fined by European Commission $1 billion for colluding with Daimler to hold back the development of technology that could have reduced harmful emissions from their vehicles.
The European Commission said the 3 German carmakers breached EU antitrust rules by agreeing to avoid competing on technical development in nitrogen oxide cleaning.
Between 2009 and 2014, the two companies held “regular technical meetings” to discuss the development of technology that removes dangerous nitrogen-oxide emissions from diesel cars.
“The five car manufacturers Porsche, BMW, Audi, Daimler and Volkswagen had the technology to reduce harmful emissions beyond what was legally required under EU emission standards. But they avoided to compete on using this technology’s full potential to clean better than what is required by law,” the EU Commission’s top antitrust official, Margrethe Vestager, said in the statement.
“In today’s world, polluting less is an important characteristic of any car. And this cartel aimed at restricting competition on this key competition parameter,” she added.
Volkswagen, including its Porsche and Audi brands, was fined $595 million and BMW was fined €373 million ($442 million). Daimler was not fined because it revealed the existence of the cartel, the Commission stated.
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