Photo: Screenshot from company website
Japanese automotive component supplier Nishikawa Rubber Co Ltd has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $130 million criminal penalty in the U.S.
The supplier has been penalized for its role in a price-fixing conspiracy that affected American customers. As investigators and prosecutors have shown, Nishikawa conspired to fix prices and rig bids regarding automotive body sealing products. These products were sold to automakers like Honda, Toyota, and Subaru, a statement from the U.S. Justice Department informs.
The vehicles fitted with components and supplies were then sold to U.S. customers, and the Justice Department started an inquiry on the matter after charges were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The supplier has agreed to cooperate with the department’s ongoing investigation.
The parts traded by Nishikawa at unfair prices were body-side opening seals, door-side weather-stripping, glass-run channels, trunk lids, and other smaller seals.
These components are found in any production automobile, and are used by automakers to keep the interior dry from rain and as free as possible from wind-generated and other exterior noises.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, the price fixing scheme lasted from January 2000, until September 2012. However, we must note that the press release mentions these dates for orientation purposes, as investigators believe the scheme was ongoing both before and after the described period.
The sanction applied to Nishikawa was as high because the company primarily targeted the United States of America and Canada through its behavior. Among other things, investigators found that Nishikawa manufactured body sealing products in the USA, shipped them to Canada for assembly, and the resulting cars would then come to the American market. While the procedure is reasonable and legal, the company attempted to use it to conceal sales and modified prices.
Nishikawa was not the only company targeted by investigators, as 44 other companies and 64 executives have been charged in the ongoing investigation. Together, the parties described in the previous sentence have agreed to pay over $2.8 billion in criminal fines for their actions.
The vehicles fitted with components and supplies were then sold to U.S. customers, and the Justice Department started an inquiry on the matter after charges were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The supplier has agreed to cooperate with the department’s ongoing investigation.
The parts traded by Nishikawa at unfair prices were body-side opening seals, door-side weather-stripping, glass-run channels, trunk lids, and other smaller seals.
These components are found in any production automobile, and are used by automakers to keep the interior dry from rain and as free as possible from wind-generated and other exterior noises.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, the price fixing scheme lasted from January 2000, until September 2012. However, we must note that the press release mentions these dates for orientation purposes, as investigators believe the scheme was ongoing both before and after the described period.
The sanction applied to Nishikawa was as high because the company primarily targeted the United States of America and Canada through its behavior. Among other things, investigators found that Nishikawa manufactured body sealing products in the USA, shipped them to Canada for assembly, and the resulting cars would then come to the American market. While the procedure is reasonable and legal, the company attempted to use it to conceal sales and modified prices.
Nishikawa was not the only company targeted by investigators, as 44 other companies and 64 executives have been charged in the ongoing investigation. Together, the parties described in the previous sentence have agreed to pay over $2.8 billion in criminal fines for their actions.
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