Furukawa Agrees to $42.5M Auto Parts Class Action Settlement

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Another settlement has reportedly been reached in a massive class action lawsuit over a widespread price-fixing scheme in the automotive parts industry.

Furukawa Electric Co., a Japanese auto wiring supplier, has agreed to pay more than $42.5 million to settle allegations that it conspired with other automotive companies to fix the price of car electronic systems, according to documents filed this week in Michigan federal court.

On Wednesday, the parties filed a motion seeking preliminary approval of a proposed class action settlement with the Furukawa defendants.

According to the price-fixing settlement documents, Furukawa will pay more than $42.5 million for the benefit of a Class of end-payor plaintiffs.

In addition to providing monetary benefits to the end-payor plaintiff Class, Furukawa has also agreed to cooperate in the litigation against the remaining defendants, and to refrain from the conduct at issue in the automotive parts price-fixing class action lawsuit for two years after the judgment is finalized.

Class Members of the proposed Furukawa settlement include anyone who purchased or leased a new vehicle in the United States that included one or more automotive wire harness systems as a component part (or indirectly purchased an automotive wire harness system as a replacement part) since Jan. 1, 1998.

To be eligible as a Class Member, the automotive wire harness system must have been manufactured or sold by one of the defendants, one of their subsidiaries, or a co-conspirator of one of the defendants.

“The Settlement is not only fair, reasonable, and adequate—resulting from extensive arm’s length negotiations by experienced counsel, but also a thoughtfully conceived resolution of the proposed Settlement Class’ claims that maximizes their recovery and guarantees early, significant cooperation by Defendant Furukawa in the continued prosecution of EPPs’ claims,” the auto parts price-fixing settlement documents state.

Other settling defendants include Fujikura Ltd. and T.Rad Co. Ltd., which reached a settlement in August 2015, and Nippon Seiki Co. Ltd., which reached a settlement in January 2014. Like Furukawa, Fujikura was accused of conspiring to fix the prices of automotive wire harness systems.

Only three of the 12 manufacturers of automotive wire harness systems who are named as defendants in the antitrust litigation have reportedly not agreed to settlements.

The other wire harness system manufacturers named in this litigation include Chiyoda, DENSO, G.S. Elechtech, Lear, Leoni, Mitsubishi Electric, Sumitomo, Tokai Rika, and Yazaki.

More information about the auto parts price-fixing settlements are available here. The claim filing period is not yet open, but you can register for updates by visiting www.AutoPartsClass.com.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the green “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The plaintiffs are represented by Steven N. Williams, Elizabeth Tran and Demetrius X. Lambrinos of Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy LLP; Hollis Salzman, Bernard Persky and William V. Reiss of Robins Kaplan LLP; and Marc M. Seltzer and Steven G. Sklaver of Susman Godfrey LLP.

The Automotive Wire Harness Price-Fixing Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2311, In re: Wire Harness Systems, Case No. 2:12-cv-00103, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

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.