Latest update in German cartel inquiry

BMW has hired a law firm to help with an internal investigation of an alleged cartel among German carmakers and needs more time before any conclusions can be reached, Chief Executive Harald Krueger said yesterday. Asked whether BMW would be able to quantify possible risks from the allegations once it had concluded its fact-finding operation, Krueger said: "As of today we don't know this at all." BMW, Daimler  and Volkswagen were raided by European Union and German antitrust officials last month over allegations that they had collaborated to set pricing and technology standards to the detriment of foreign rivals and customers over the past few decades.