Whose driving Corolla pricing? – bid-rigging Japanese and other suppliers.
Japanese car parts manufacturer INOAC Corporation was ordered to pay $1.3 million for its role in an international bid-rigging conspiracy, after pleading guilty before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Canada. (*Read AutoInformed on various – and numerous – sordid cases. See links below below.)
A Competition Bureau investigation determined that INOAC entered into illegal agreements with a competing Japanese parts manufacturer. The companies conspired to determine who would win certain calls for bids issued by Toyota in 2004 for the supply of plastic interior car parts. The parts were used in Toyota Corollas manufactured and sold in Canada between 2008 and 2014.
Today’s guilty plea concludes the Bureau’s investigation of a series of international bid-rigging conspiracies among car parts suppliers. The investigations led to 13 guilty pleas and fines totaling more than $86 million, including three of the largest bid-rigging fines ever imposed by the courts in Canada: $30 million (Yazaki Corporation), $13.4 million (Mitsubishi Electric) and $13 million (Showa Corporation).
“The record-setting fines that resulted from our investigations send a clear message to the global marketplace: if you do business in Canada, you must comply with the law. Cracking down on bid-rigging and other anti-competitive schemes remains a top priority for the Bureau,” said Matthew Boswell, Interim Commissioner of Competition
Quick Facts
- INOAC pleaded guilty under the Criminal Code to one count of conspiracy to engage in bid-rigging.
- INOAC was ordered to pay a fine of $1.13 million and a victim surcharge of $169,500.
- The auto parts investigations benefitted from the cooperation of numerous companies under the Bureau’s Leniency Program, in which INOAC participated. INOAC also implemented a corporate compliance program to prevent further anticompetitive conduct.
- The Bureau first began investigating in 2009 after it learned of illegal activity in the auto parts industry through its Immunity Program, which provides immunity from prosecution to the first party to disclose an offence or to provide evidence leading to the filing of charges.
- The Immunity and Leniency Programs are the Bureau’s most powerful tools for detecting and stopping illegal conduct.
* AutoInformed.com On Various Cases
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Thirteenth Guilty Plea Ends Parts Bid-Rigging Investigations
Whose driving Corolla pricing? – bid-rigging Japanese and other suppliers.
Japanese car parts manufacturer INOAC Corporation was ordered to pay $1.3 million for its role in an international bid-rigging conspiracy, after pleading guilty before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Canada. (*Read AutoInformed on various – and numerous – sordid cases. See links below below.)
A Competition Bureau investigation determined that INOAC entered into illegal agreements with a competing Japanese parts manufacturer. The companies conspired to determine who would win certain calls for bids issued by Toyota in 2004 for the supply of plastic interior car parts. The parts were used in Toyota Corollas manufactured and sold in Canada between 2008 and 2014.
Today’s guilty plea concludes the Bureau’s investigation of a series of international bid-rigging conspiracies among car parts suppliers. The investigations led to 13 guilty pleas and fines totaling more than $86 million, including three of the largest bid-rigging fines ever imposed by the courts in Canada: $30 million (Yazaki Corporation), $13.4 million (Mitsubishi Electric) and $13 million (Showa Corporation).
“The record-setting fines that resulted from our investigations send a clear message to the global marketplace: if you do business in Canada, you must comply with the law. Cracking down on bid-rigging and other anti-competitive schemes remains a top priority for the Bureau,” said Matthew Boswell, Interim Commissioner of Competition
Quick Facts
* AutoInformed.com On Various Cases
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.