Several of the world’s biggest car makers are set to pay more than €500 million in total fines to settle separate cartel probes by the European Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority into the end-of-life vehicle recycling sector.
The EU enforcer revealed today it has fined 15 companies and the European Automobiles Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) around €458 million after they admitted they agreed not to pay vehicle dismantlers for processing their customers’ end-of-life vehicles.
The CMA separately announced later this afternoon that it has imposed fines totalling £77.7 million (€93 million) on 10 car manufacturers and the ACEA and the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) for the same breaches.
The list of conspirators is a who’s who of the biggest names in the car industry – with Volkswagen, Renault, Honda, Hyundai, GM, Mazda, Suzuki, Volvo, BMW, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, Peugeot Citroen, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and Vauxhall all being targeted.
Mercedes escaped penalties for blowing the whistle on the conspiracy to both enforcers.
The two agencies coordinated on their probes, which concluded that the manufacturers shared confidential information on their agreements with car dismantlers and aligned their behaviour towards them.
The car companies also decided not to publicise the extent that end of life vehicles can be recycled and reused.
This meant consumers were unable to compare “green credentials” when buying new cars, potentially affecting their decisions, the CMA said.
Meanwhile, trade association ACEA and SMMT were found to have facilitated the conspiracy through meetings between the car companies.
The agencies concluded that the infringements took place between May 2002 and May 2018, although some of the companies were involved over different time periods.
EU competition commissioner Teresa Ribera, whose vast portfolio also includes delivering on the EU’s Green Deal, said her agency was taking “firm action” against the conspiracy to hamper competition on recycling.
“High quality recycling in key sectors such as automotive will be central to meeting our circular economy objectives, not only to cut waste and emissions, but also to reduce dependencies, lower production costs and create a more sustainable and competitive industrial model in Europe,” she added.
The commission ordered Volkswagen to pay the highest penalty at €127.7 million, with Renault and its subsidiary Nissan on the hook for €81.5 million. BMW was fined €24.6 million, Honda €5 million, Toyota €23.5 million and Suzuki €5.5 million.
Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia agreed to pay €11.9 million, while Jaguar Land Rover and its owner Tata will fork out €1.7 million. The EU enforcer also ordered GM to pay €17.7 million – with the same company jointly and severally liable with Opel for a €13.7 million sanction.
Mazda’s penalty was set at €5 million, of which it is jointly and severally liable with Ford for €1 million. Volvo will pay €8.9 million and is also jointly and severally liable with Ford for €3.9 million and with Geely for €4.4 million.
Meanwhile, the commission ordered ACEA to pay €500,000 for its role in the cartel.
Mitsubishi, Ford, Stellantis and its subsidiary Opel won reduced fines for cooperating with the EU enforcer. They will respectively pay €4.1 million, €41.5 million, €74.9 million and €24.5 million.
Mercedes escaped a fine of around €35 million for revealing the cartel.
Meanwhile, the CMA ordered BMW to pay £11 million, Ford £18.5 million, Volkswagen £14.7 million, Jaguar Land Rover £4.6 million, Toyota £4.5 million, Mitsubishi £898,531 and Peugeot Citroen and its owner Stellantis £5.2 million.
Nissan and Renault received a £10 million joint fine, with the former ordered to pay a further £2.8 million penalty.
The CMA also ordered Vauxhall and Opel to pay £2.1 million, on top of a further £2.9 million with former owner General Motors and a further £123,072 with current owner Stellantis. ACEA and SMMT must pay £114,000 and £46,800.
SMMT, Stellantis – which currently owns Peugeot Citroen, Vauxhall and Opel – and Mitsubishi received leniency reductions from the CMA.
Counsel to GM
Freshfields
Partners Thomas Janssens in Brussels, Maria Dreher-Lorje in Vienna and Brussels and Thomas McGrath in London and Brussels, assisted by Jan Jeram, Fanny Abouzeid, Fiona O’Malley, Ben Newbitt and Alberto Tassoni
Counsel to Jaguar Land Rover
CMS
Partners Jacqueline Vallat and Brian Sher in London and Brussels and Siobhan Kahmann in Brussels, assisted by Sebastian Casselbrant-Multala, Claire Barraclough, Kabir Garyali, Cecilia Pataut, Rebecca Robertson-Enciso, and Mihaela Ungureanu
Counsel to Mazda
Morrison Foerster
Partners Alexander Israel and Jan Lang in Brussels and Berlin, assisted by Teodora Peevska
Counsel to Mitsubishi
Herbert Smith Freehills
Partners Kyriakos Fountoukakos in Brussels, Marcel Nuys in Düsseldorf and Natalia Rodriguez in London, of counsel Camille Puech in Brussels, assisted by Anne Eckenroth
Counsel to Renault
Jones Day
EU investigation
Partner Eric Barbier de La Serre and of counsel Eileen Lagathu in Paris, assisted by Victor Viaud and Aubin Mistretta
CMA investigation
Partner Mark Jones and of counsel Jason Beer in London, assisted by Nellie Quinn and Tatjana Duff
This article was originally published in Lexology PRO's sister title Global Competition Review (GCR) on 1 April 2025.