Top German Automakers Sued in U.S. Over Two-Decade 'Cartel'

German’s major automakers were accused in a U.S. lawsuit of acting as a cartel, colluding for nearly two decades to limit the pace of technological advances in their vehicles and stifle competition -- allegations that widen the scope of the latest scandal to hit the nation’s auto industry.

BMW AG, Daimler AG, Volkswagen AG and its Audi and Porsche brands shared competitive information about vehicle technologies with one another from 1996 through at least 2015 in violation of antitrust laws, according to a complaint filed Friday in San Francisco federal court.

The supplier of VW’s cheat software, Robert Bosch Gmbh, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

“We consider this class action suit to lack merit,” Han Tjan, a spokesman for Daimler, said in an emailed statement. “We will defend ourselves by all legal means.”

BMW spokesman Kenn Sparks and VW’s Jeannine Ginivan said their companies had no comment on Friday. The other companies didn’t respond to messages and emails seeking comment after normal business hours.

The suit filed Friday is the second in the U.S. to allege the anti-competitive actions by the companies. Drivers filed a similar class-action suit in New Jersey federal court on Tuesday alleging German automakers created an anti-competitive culture in the U.S. and conspired over 20 years to increase prices of luxury vehicles while sharing technology to skirt emissions norms.

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Bosch in self-driving tie-up with China's Baidu, AutoNavi

Germany's Robert Bosch will collaborate with Chinese internet giant Baidu Inc and domestic mapping firms AutoNavi and NavInfo Co Ltd on automated driving projects, the engineer said in a statement on Wednesday.

The deal marks a push by the firm in China's autonomous vehicle market and follows a self-driving tie-up it made with Daimler AG's Mercedes aimed at accelerating the production of "robo-taxis" last month.

China issued a self-driving "roadmap" late last year, with the aim of having highly or fully autonomous vehicles on sale in the world's biggest auto market by as early as 2021.

Firms like Bosch, a major automotive supplier, have become prominent in the global race to develop autonomous vehicle technology, supplanting traditional top-down manufacturing relationships with a complex web of tie-ups.

The collaboration with Baidu, AutoNavi - owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd - and NavInfo will use Bosch radar and video sensors on cars to help generate and update maps critical to autonomous driving capabilities, the firm said.

"Automated driving will not be possible without high-precision maps – not in China and not anywhere else in the world either," Rolf Bulander, chairman of Bosch's Mobility Solutions unit said in the statement.

Chinese automakers including Geely have called on authorities to loosen controls on mapping, saying national security concerns risk inhibiting the development of self-driving vehicles. (Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Stephen Coates)














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