JLR and Toyota among manufacturers fined in £77m collusion scandal

Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), both with strong ties to the Midlands, have been fined millions as part of a wider Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into illegal collusion among car manufacturers.

An investigation found that major automotive firms had unlawfully coordinated their advertising and recycling practices, which resulted in a total of £77.6m in fines across multiple companies and trade bodies.

Toyota, which operates a major manufacturing plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire, has been fined £4.5m, while JLR, which has factories in Solihull and Wolverhampton, faces a penalty of £4.6m.

The CMA found that these manufacturers, along with others, had agreed not to compete when advertising the recyclability of their vehicles, preventing consumers from making fully informed choices about the environmental impact of their purchases.

As well as advertising collusion, manufacturers were involved in a buyers’ cartel that refused to pay third-party companies for recycling end-of-life vehicles (ELVs).

This agreement, which spanned over a decade, meant that suppliers of recycling services were unable to negotiate fair prices, potentially stifling investment in greener recycling technologies.

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.”

JLR joined the advertising agreement in 2008 and the ELV recycling cartel in 2016, while Toyota was involved in both activities for several years.

The illegal arrangements were documented in what was internally referred to as the ‘ELV Charta’ and were regularly discussed in meetings between the companies.

Two trade associations, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), were involved in both illegal agreements.

The manufacturers used ACEA meetings to facilitate these arrangements, with the association itself chairing meetings and intervening when manufacturers acted outside of the terms.

The SMMT also attended these meetings and likewise became involved by settling a handful of disputes.

Other manufacturers involved in the investigation include BMW, Ford, Nissan, Peugeot Citroen, Renault, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, and Mitsubishi.

Mercedes-Benz, although implicated, escaped financial penalties after voluntarily reporting its involvement to the CMA under a leniency policy.

The penalties vary between companies, with Ford receiving the largest total fine of £18.5m.

All fines must be paid by June 2025, with manufacturers now under increased scrutiny to ensure compliance with competition regulations in the future.

Falsarella Pereira said: “Today’s fines show our commitment to taking action when competition law is broken. By our leniency policy, we’ve given discounts to those who came forward with information and co-operated at an early stage, which helps to get the swiftest outcomes.

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.”