EU antitrust regulators raided several companies and associations in the automotive industry on Tuesday, in separate operations across a number of EU countries, saying that they may have breached the bloc’s cartel rules.
The European Commission said it also sent out requests for information to the companies, although no specific names were mentioned.
“The inspections and requests for information concern possible collusion in relation to the collection, treatment and recovery of end-of-life cars and vans which are considered waste,” the EU competition enforcer said in a statement.
German carmaker BMW said it had received a request for information and would respond. Mercedes Benz said it did not expect to be fined because it had approached the EU regulator and Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority with information as a “leniency applicant.”
Companies found breaching EU cartel rules face fines up to 10 percent of their global turnover.
The UK’s competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), also said on Tuesday that it had launched an investigation into suspected anti-competitive conduct relating to recycling of old or discarded vehicles that involved a number of automakers and some industry bodies.
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