Financial Times: EU truckmakers face record cartel fine

European manufacturers including Daimler, Volvo and Renault could be hit with fines surpassing the EU record 1.4 billion euro (U.S. $1.6 billion) penalty imposed in 2012 over television-tube price fixing, according to a report from the Financial Times.    European truckmakers including Daimler AG, Volvo AB and Renault SA are said to face the biggest cartel fine in EU history, the Financial Times reported.
   The penalty could be imposed within weeks over charges the companies fixed prices and colluded to delay new emissions-control equipment, the newspaper reported, citing people close to the matter.
   The fine could surpass the record 1.4 billion euro ($1.6 billion) in penalties imposed over television-tube price fixing in 2012 and follows a probe of Europe’s six dominant truckmakers between 1997 and 2011. Cartels face fines of as much as 10 percent of global revenue under EU rules, meaning payments ordered from the truckmakers involved could total a maximum of 10.7 billion euros, the Financial Times reported.
   Among the companies, DAF NV has set aside $945 million to cover the possible penalties, while Daimler has prepared $672 million, Iveco Ltd. $500 million and Volvo $444 million, according to the newspaper report. MAN SE, as whistle blower in the case, would normally escape fines, while Volkswagen AG unit Scania said it had not set aside cash for the fine, according to the Financial Times.
   Suppliers of ball bearings to car and truckmakers were jointly fined 953 million euros in 2014.