The European Commission has fined BMW and Volkswagen a total of €875 million following a collusion verdict in violation of EU antitrust laws.
The EU found that Volkswagen and BMW had entered into an agreement with a third automaker, Daimler, to not compete against each other to develop technology that would lead to less nitrogen-oxide emissions.
The EU Commissioner for competition, Margrethe Vestager, commented that "the five car manufacturers Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche possessed the technology to reduce harmful emissions beyond what was legally required under EU emission standards. But they avoided to compete on using this technology's full potential to clean better than what is required by law."
"In today's world, polluting less is an important characteristic of any car. And this cartel aimed at restricting competition on this key competition parameter," she said.
The Brussels Times
