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08 July 2021875 million euros. This is the amount of fine that the EU Antitrust has imposed on BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen for having made a cartel hindering the development and full use of non-polluting technologies to reduce emissions from diesel cars. The same Antitrust communicates it. The case concerned the "circle of five", namely BMW, Daimler and three divisions of the Volkswagen group, namely VW, Audi and Porsche. By reporting the irregular practice to the Commission, Daimler avoided the sanction.



Involvement and fines

The EU Commission has come to the conclusion that Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen have violated antitrust rules by agreeing with each other on technological developments for cleaning the exhaust gases emitted by new diesel cars. All car manufacturers have acknowledged their involvement in the cartel. BMW was fined 372.827 million and Volkswagen 502.362 million, using a 45% reduction for collaborating with the Antitrust. Daimler benefited from full immunity against a fine of around 727 million euros.



Development without competition

"The five car manufacturers Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen, Audie Porsche possessed the technology to reduce harmful emissions beyond what is legally required by EU emissions standards, but they have avoided competing by not using the full potential of this technology to go beyond what is required. by law. So today's decision concerns how legitimate technical cooperation did not work ", underlined the vice president of the EU Commission, Margrethe Vestager. According to the Brussels analysis, carmakers held regular technical meetings to discuss the development of Selective Catalytic Reduction, a technology that eliminates harmful nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from diesel cars through urea injection which is also called urea injection. "AdBlue",in the exhaust gas flow.



An agreement that lasted 5 years

During these meetings, and for over five years from 2009 to 2014, the companies worked together to avoid competition in this area to make the "cleaning" action better than required by law despite the technology being available. . This is the first time that the Commission concludes that collusion on technical development amounts to a cartel.



No Evidence of Unlawful Acts

The Antitrust Authority points out that there are no indications that the parties have coordinated the use of illegal manipulation devices to evade regulatory testing and it has not been determined whether car makers met car emission standards.