EU, German Regulator Studying Reports of Automaker Collusion

(Bloomberg) -- The European Commission and the German cartel office have received information about possible collusion among German automakers and are studying the matter, according to a statement released Saturday.

“It is premature at this stage to speculate further,” according to the statement from the commission’s executive arm. “The commission and national competition authorities cooperate closely with each other on such issues in the context of the European Competition Network.”

A report in Der Spiegel magazine this week said the biggest car manufacturers -- Daimler AG, BMW AG and Volkswagen AG as well as VW’s Audi and Porsche brands -- may have colluded for decades on technology. The companies declined to comment.

Shares of BMW, VW and Daimler tumbled on the magazine’s report, which cited a document submitted by Volkswagen in July 2016 and referenced another from Daimler. The German cartel office, or Bundeskartellamt, said in a statement Friday that it searched the car companies last year as part of a probe into a possible steel cartel. It didn’t elaborate on a possible follow-up probe on car technology, saying it can’t comment on ongoing investigations.

According to the Spiegel report, the five German car brands met starting in the 1990s to coordinate activities related to their vehicle technology, costs, suppliers and strategy as well as emissions controls in diesel engines. The discussions involved more than 200 employees in 60 working groups in areas including auto development, gasoline and diesel motors, brakes and transmissions. Talks may have also involved the size of tanks for AdBlue fluid for diesel autos, the magazine reported, which is at the heart of the emissions case.

The Spiegel article said that one aim of the collusion was to obstruct competition, with the carmakers agreeing on costs for components or technical details such as convertible roofs.

Volkswagen fell as much as 4.9 percent, while shares of Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, declined as much as 3.2 percent and BMW slid 3.4 percent.

According to the cartel office, the raid took place exactly a year ago and targeted six carmakers and suppliers. Der Spiegel said that the follow-up probe was essentially a by-product of that raid, which involved 50 employees of the cartel authority, aided by local police and regional law-enforcement officers.

--With assistance from Tom Lavell

To contact the reporters on this story: Elisabeth Behrmann in Munich at ebehrmann1@bloomberg.net, Richard Bravo in Brussels at rbravo5@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chris Reiter at creiter2@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann, Bernard Kohn