WASHINGTON--Nine more Japan-based companies have agreed to plead
guilty to fixing prices on auto parts and will pay more than $740
million in criminal fines, the Justice Department announced
Thursday.
The department said the companies were involved in separate
conspiracies to fix prices on more than 30 different parts sold to
U.S. auto makers, including to Chrysler, Ford Motor Co. (F) and
General Motors Co. (GM).
Among the companies agreeing to plead guilty are Hitachi
Automotive Systems Ltd., which will pay a $195 million fine, and
Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (6503.TO), which will pay a $190 million
fine.
The Justice Department's long-running auto-parts investigation
has focused on price-fixing in a wide array of products, from
instrument panels to air bags and steering wheels. Its first
charges came in 2011.
The probe has expanded over time as implicated auto-parts
companies have come forward with evidence of price fixing in other
previously undiscovered schemes.
With Thursday's agreements, 20 companies have agreed to pay more
than $1.6 billion in criminal fines.
The Justice Department has said auto makers around the globe
were victimized by the price-fixing conspiracies. U.S. officials
have called the price-fixing probe its largest ever by the number
of companies and executives involved.
Most parts markers that have pleaded guilty over the last two
years are based in Japan.
Other companies to plead guilty under the deals announced
Thursday are Jtekt Corp. (6473.TO), Mitsuba Corp. (7280.TO),
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (7011.TO), NSK Ltd. (6471.TO),
T.RAD Co. (7236.TO), Valeo Japan Co. and Yamashita Rubber Co.
Write to Brent Kendall at Brent.Kendall@wsj.com
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