Japanese firm agrees to pay R3.8m penalty

25th August 2020

By: Donna Slater

Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

     

Font size: - +

The Competition Tribunal has confirmed, as an order, a consent agreement between the Competition Commission and Yazaki Corporation, incorporated under the company laws of Japan, in which Yazaki will pay an administrative penalty of R3.8-million.

This follows after the commission accused Yazaki of price fixing, market division and collusive tendering.

The commission had received information suggesting that Yazaki and two other Japanese companies, Sumitomo Electric Industries (Sumitomo) and Denso Corporation, had concluded an agreement and/or were party to concerted practices to fix the prices that they would quote to original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

In addition, the information also pointed to the parties attempting to divide markets and tender collusively in respect of requests for quotes (RFQs) in the market for the manufacture and supply of automotive components to OEMs outside of South Africa.
 
An investigation undertaken by the commission found that the three firms were involved in 15 specific instances of cartel conduct between 2003 and 2009. These involved requests for quotes by vehicle manufacturers including Honda, Toyota and the Renault-Nissan purchasing organisation, mostly for the supply of wire harnesses used in various vehicle models.

The commission concluded that the conduct of the three firms constituted price fixing, market division and collusive tendering.

Although Yazaki has denied participating in such activities, it agreed to the settlement, which includes a requirement that it develop, implement and monitor a competition law compliance programme as part of its corporate governance policy in addition to paying the penalty.

The tribunal had previously confirmed a consent agreement between the commission and Sumitomo. Sumitomo had agreed to pay an administrative penalty of R437.278.38.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION