Sarah Mirando  |  October 25, 2011

Category: Legal News

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Toyota grilleThree class action lawsuits have been filed against several major auto-part suppliers, alleging they engaged in a “massive decade-long conspiracy to unlawfully fix and artificially raise the price” of wire harness systems. As a result, consumers were forced to pay higher prices for new vehicles, harming tens of millions of new car buyers.

The wire harness class action lawsuits were filed after the federal government released information detailing an international price-fixing scheme that may have cost American purchasers and lessees of a wide range of cars millions of dollars in the form of inflated car prices over a 10-year period.

Automotive wire harness systems are used to direct and control electronic components, wiring and circuit boards in cars – and represents a multi-billion annual business.

The U.S. Justice Department, European Union and Japan have been investigating the market for wire harness systems since at least February 2010. They discovered that a price-fixing scheme to allocate the supply of wire harnesses and other products on a model-by-model basis was in play from January 2000 until at least January 2010.

Among the defendants in the wire harness price fixing class action lawsuits is Furukawa Electric, which signed an agreement with the Justice Department to pay a $200 million fine for participating in the price-fixing scheme and send three of its executives to U.S. prison for terms ranging from one year to 18 months.

“While the agreement with the federal government goes a long way to serve justice, it does nothing to remunerate the thousands of auto purchasers who appear to have overpaid for their vehicles,” said an attorney representing a group of Honda and Toyota owners affected by the wire harness price-fixing scheme.

The class action lawsuits also target Delphi Automotive LLP, Lear Corp., Leoni AG, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., S-Y Systems Technologies GmbH, Yazaki Corp. and Yazaki North America.

The wire harness antitrust class action lawsuits are seeking the return of ill-gotten profits to all car buyers affected by the price-fixing scheme.

UPDATE: September 2017, the automotive wire harness antitrust class action lawsuit have secured settlements from five defendants worth more than $249 million. Click here to file a claim.

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