CPM Case Continues Regarding Auto Parts Price-Fixing Antitrust Litigation

This case involves a massive conspiracy to fix the prices for component parts of cars. The complaint alleges that these increased prices are then passed on to the consumers who purchase motor vehicles. The first settlements have been announced with defendants TRW, Yazaki, Nippon Seiki, Autoliv, Lear, Hitachi, and Panasonic. The Court has also upheld complaints in the Wire Harness, Fuel Senders, Heating Control Panel, and Bearings cases, and discovery is beginning. Thus far, at least 29 separate auto parts have been identified as being the subject of price-fixing by defendants. The United States Department of Justice has called this conspiracy the “biggest criminal antitrust investigation that we’ve ever encountered . . . with respect to the impact on U.S. businesses and consumers.”