Ten carmakers and two industry groups have been fined almost £78 million by the UK regulator for “colluding to restrict competition” over vehicle recycling.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the firms broke the law because they agreed not to compete with each other when advertising what percentage of their cars can be recycled.
The manufacturers that have reached a settlement with the CMA are BMW, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, Peugeot Citroen, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault, Toyota, Vauxhall and Volkswagen.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (Acea) and the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) were also involved in the illegal agreements.
The combined settlements total £77.7 million, with Ford facing an £18.5 million fine and BMW being hit with an £11.1 million penalty.
Lucilia Falsarella Pereira, senior director of competition enforcement at the CMA, said: “Agreeing with competitors the prices you’ll pay for a service or colluding to restrict competition is illegal and this can extend to how you advertise your products.
“This kind of collusion can limit consumers’ ability to make informed choices and lower the incentive for companies to invest in new initiatives.
“We recognise that competing businesses may want to work together to help the environment, in those cases our door is open to help them do so.”