On July 8th, the European Commission ruled that Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen Group had engaged in “illegal collusion” and were fined €8.7 billion!
Margrethe Vestager, Head of the EU’s antitrust regulator, stated that these companies had “secretly colluded” with each other between 2009 and 2014 to avoid competing on technology to limit pollution from gasoline and diesel cars, thereby violating EU antitrust laws.
The case also involved two luxury brands under Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche. These companies were recognized in 2015 to have no connection with Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate” scandal.
The European Commission imposed a fine of €502 million on Volkswagen Group: a fine of €373 million on BMW.
Daimler should have paid a fine of about €727 million, but because it revealed this “hidden” behavior to the commission, it was granted “leniency” and was exempted from paying the fine in full!
🔗Source: EU Official Website
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.