EU Commission fines BMW and Volkswagen group €875m
The European Commission has found that Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen group (Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche) breached EU antitrust rules by colluding on technical development in the area of nitrogen oxide cleaning. The Commission has imposed a fine of € 875 189 000. Daimler was not fined, as it revealed the existence of the cartel to the Commission. All parties acknowledged their involvement in the cartel and agreed to settle the case.
The car manufactures held regular technical meetings to discuss the development of the selective catalytic reduction (SCR)-technology which eliminates harmful nitrogen oxide (NOx)-emissions from diesel passenger cars through the injection of urea (also called “AdBlue”) into the exhaust gas stream. During these meetings, and for over five years, the car manufacturers colluded to avoid competition on cleaning better than what is required by law despite the relevant technology being available.
More specifically, Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen group reached an agreement on AdBlue tank sizes and ranges and a common understanding on the average estimated AdBlue-consumption. They also exchanged commercially sensitive information on these elements. They thereby removed the uncertainty about their future market conduct concerning NOx-emissions cleaning beyond and above the legal requirements (so called “over-fulfilment”) and AdBlue-refill ranges.
This means that they restricted competition on product characteristics relevant for the customers.
The breakdown of the fines imposed on each company is as follows:
| Leniency reduction | Settlement discount | Final amount | |
| DAIMLER | 100 % | 10 % | EUR 0 |
| VOLKSWAGEN GROUP | 45 % | 10 % | € 502 362 000 |
| BMW | 0 % | 10 % | € 372 827 000 |
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