Mitsubishi Electric Fined Millions for Role in Auto Parts Bid-rigging Conspiracy

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

A major auto industry supplier has found itself on the receiving end of a multi-million-dollar fine north of the border, following an investigation into an international bid-rigging conspiracy.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice leveled a fine of $13.4 million against Mitsubishi Electric on Tuesday for its role in the illegal agreement. The supplier pleaded guilty to three charges, making it only the most recent Japanese supplier to face expensive justice for landing a juicy — but dodgy — parts contract.

According to Canada’s Competition Bureau — an independent law enforcement body — Mitsubishi Electric joined a group of Japanese auto parts manufacturers in the conspiracy:

A Bureau investigation determined that Mitsubishi Electric entered into illegal agreements with a competing Japanese car parts manufacturer. The companies conspired to determine who would win certain calls for bids issued by Honda and Ford for the supply of alternators, and by General Motors for the supply of ignition coils. The calls for bids occurred between 2003 and 2006.

The Bureau first learned of the scheme in 2009 through its immunity program. That program provides immunity from prosecution to the first whistleblower involved an illegal corporate operation. Since 2013, the Bureau has issued a total of $84 million in fines to members of the conspiracy.

In April of that year, the Bureau fined Yazaki Corporation $30 million. The supplier has pleaded guilty to bid-rigging for its contract for wire harnesses supplied to Honda and Toyota for the 2006 Honda Ridgeline, 2006 Honda Civic and 2006 Toyota Corolla/Matrix models.

One year ago, the investigation saw a $13 million fine leveled against Showa Corporation. The company supplied electric power steering gears for Honda models produced in Canada between 2007 and 2008.

The same investigation has spilled over into the United States, where last year Nishikawa Rubber Company paid a $130 million fine after rigging bids for body sealing products. In that case, Nishikawa gained a contract with Toyota and Honda lasting from 2000 to 2012.

Eight other suppliers involved in scheme have seen fines from the Competition Bureau over the past four years, including Toyo Tire and Panasonic Corporation.

[Image: goodharbor/ Flickr ( CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments
Join the conversation
5 of 12 comments
  • JohnTaurus JohnTaurus on Apr 28, 2017

    Boy, I tell ya, you can't go wrong with buying Japanese.

  • Ryoku75 Ryoku75 on Apr 28, 2017

    Based on some quick research this isn't a new thing with Japanese part makers, Denso, Yazaki, and others have been involved. What I'm curious about is how frequent these events are, and who else partakes.

    • See 2 previous
    • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Apr 28, 2017

      @Sceptic That is very true. Many wars and coups have been orchestrated for the profit of business.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
Next