2:29 pm, April 5, 2019
EUROPEAN Union authorities have said German car makers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen colluded to limit the development of emissions-cleaning technology in cars.
The EU anti-trust regulator said an in-depth investigation found the companies broke EU laws from 2006 to 2014 by illegally agreeing among themselves to limit the rollout of the technology, which helps clean exhaust emissions from petrol and diesel passenger cars.
The alleged actions would have limited Europeans’ options for less-polluting cars but not their price.
#EUAntitrust We have sent an Statement of Objections to BMW, Daimler andVW for restricting competition on emission cleaning technology. Our preliminary view is that they have breached EU antitrust rules from 2006 to 2014: https://t.co/rdGj0YrOlB pic.twitter.com/aKhsmf9mDs
— EU Competition (@EU_Competition) April 5, 2019
The probe is separate from other legal procedures against car makers for allegedly breaching environmental laws.
Emissions have become a big topic for the industry as authorities try to meet climate change goals and after Volkswagen admitted in 2015 that it cheated on car emissions tests.
EU authorities raided the offices of the three companies in October 2017 and opened their investigation in September last year.
At the time, Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW all said they were co-operating with the EU Commission.
The EU noted that its preliminary findings do not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation.
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