The European Commission has imposed a fine of approximately €72 million on three automotive starter battery manufacturers and one trade association for participating in a price-fixing cartel. The companies involved are Exide, FET (including its predecessor Elettra) and Rombat, together with the industry body EUROBAT.
According to the Commission’s findings, these parties agreed for over 12 years to introduce and publish surcharges on automotive starter batteries sold to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the European Economic Area. Automotive starter batteries, commonly used in internal combustion engine vehicles such as cars and trucks, rely heavily on lead as a primary raw material. Lead’s market price fluctuations are typically reflected in surcharges applied by battery suppliers. However, the Commission concluded that the cartel members colluded to maintain the surcharge above a competitive level.
The agreement involved calculating premiums based on each producer’s procurement cost for lead, then publishing these so-called EUROBAT premiums in the industry publication Metal Bulletin. Battery makers then used these agreed surcharges in negotiations with vehicle manufacturers, ensuring uniform price increases across the sector.
Clarios (formerly JC Autobatterie) escaped fines by revealing the cartel to the Commission under its leniency programme. Proceedings against another battery supplier, Banner, and a related service provider, Kellen, were closed in parallel investigations.
In her statement, Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera emphasized the Commission’s “zero tolerance” policy toward price fixing and warned trade associations against facilitating collusion. This decision marks a single, continuous infringement under Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement, both of which prohibit agreements that restrict competition within the Single Market.
Source: EUbusiness
