Panasonic Corp. (PCRFY, 6752.TO) and its Sanyo Electric unit
have agreed to plead guilty and pay a $56.5 million criminal fine
for rigging the prices of auto parts and battery cells in the
latest penalty to result from the U.S. Justice Department's
campaign against price-fixing in the industry.
The Justice Department also said that battery maker LG Chem Ltd.
(051910.SE) agreed to plead guilty and pay $1.1 million for price
fixing involving battery cells.
Representatives from the companies weren't immediately available
for comment.
Panasonic will pay $45.8 million for its role in the conspiracy,
while Sanyo will pay $10.7 million, the department said.
Panasonic was charged with conspiring to rig bids and fix the
prices of steering wheel switches, turn switches and other parts
sold to Toyota Motor Corp. (TM, 7203.TO) in the U.S. and elsewhere
from as early as September 2003 until at least February 2010.
The Osaka-based company was also accused of participating in a
long-standing conspiracy, lasting from 1998 to 2010, to suppress
competition in the auto-parts industry by fixing the prices of
ballasts used for high-intensity discharge lamps sold to Honda
Motor Co. (HMC, 7267.TO), Mazda Motor of America, and Nissan Motor
Co. (NSANY, 7201.TO).
Ten other companies have agreed to plead guilty in the Justice
Department's antitrust investigation in the auto-parts sector. The
probe has focused on price fixing in a wide array of products, from
instrument panels to air bags and steering wheels.
Fifteen executives have also agreed to plead guilty, and will
pay a total of around $874 million in criminal fines as a result of
the investigation.
In a separate conspiracy, Sanyo and LG Chem from around 2007 to
2008 fixed the prices of cylindrical lithium ion battery cells, a
type of rechargeable battery used in laptops.
Thursday's guilty pleas are the first in an investigation into
price rigging in the cylindrical lithium ion battery cell
industry.
As part of the plea deals, the companies agreed to cooperate in
the department's antitrust investigations.
The Justice Department said earlier this week that Diamond
Electric Mfg. (6895.TO), a Japanese maker of ignition devices,
agreed to plead guilty and pay a $19 million criminal fine for
rigging bids and fixing prices on ignition coils, used in
automotive fuel-ignition systems, from 2003 until at least early
2010.
Write to Kristin Jones at kristin.jones@dowjones.com
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