Cartel inquiry widens

The investigation widens over whether several German carmakers have conspired to fix prices in diesel and other technologies over several decades.  It has been alleged that Daimler, Volkswagen AG and BMW formed part of a cartel to deliberately fix the price of AdBlue noxious emission treatment systems. German magazine, Der Spiegel, reported that larger capacity tanks results in reduced boot space and an increase in expenditure. To combat this the German carmakers arranged to use smaller AdBlue reservoirs that wouldn’t sufficiently deal with emissions. Deliberate cooperation among German carmakers is not uncommon, however, companies found guilty of breaching EU cartel rules face fines of as much as 10 percent of their global turnover.  Daimler disclosed on Friday that they claimed whistleblower status to overcome any fines they could face, while BMW said the European Union and German antitrust officials searched its offices. By Monday EU officials were already searching the offices of Daimler and Volkswagen over the alleged involvement. The EU Commission has declined to provide details on its investigation, saying that the searches over the past few days were an early stage in the investigation and should not translate into the idea that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behaviour.