TRIBUNAL CONFIRMS CONSENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN COMMISSION AND MAHLE, MAHLE Behr

 16 September 2020


The Tribunal has confirmed, as an order, a consent agreement between the Competition Commission (the Commission) and the German firms, MAHLE GmbH (MAHLE) and MAHLE Behr GmbH & Co. KG (MAHLE Behr) in respect of conduct that may contravene section 4(1)(b) of the Competition Act (the Act) i.e. restrictive practices between competitors.

 

The Commission considers that the investigated conduct between MAHLE Behr and Denso (referring to Denso Corporation, headquartered in Japan, and Denso Automotive Deutschland GmbH) constitutes a contravention of section 4(1)(b) of the Act.

 

The Tribunal’s order and the consent agreement will be made available on the Tribunal website in due course at www.comptrib.co.za

 


Contents of the consent agreement

 

According to the consent agreement, the Commission investigated a complaint “on the basis of information that it received suggesting that from about 2005 to 2009, MAHLE Behr and Denso concluded a general agreement and/or were party to a concerted practice when responding to tenders issued by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), in respect of the manufacture and supply of certain automotive components to certain OEMs outside South Africa, in contravention of sections 4(1)(b)(i), (ii) and/or (iii) of the Act.” 

 

These sections of the Act relate to price fixing, dividing markets and collusive tendering.

 

“The Commission’s investigation against MAHLE Behr revealed that from November 2005 to December 2009, Denso and MAHLE Behr had collusive contacts concerning the supply of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Units (HVACS) for passenger cars to Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW outside the Republic of South Africa, with the overall aim to co-ordinate their pricing strategy vis-à-vis those customers.”

 


Future conduct

 

In terms of the consent agreement, MAHLE Behr agrees and undertakes to, among others:

  • pay an administrative penalty of R1 622 106 (one million six hundred and twenty-two thousand, one hundred and six Rand);
  • publish a statement concerning the consent agreement on the MAHLE intranet, which is available to all employees;
  • refrain from engaging in conduct that may be in contravention of section 4(1)(b) of the Act, and from engaging in any prohibited practice in future;
  • continue to implement and monitor a competition law compliance programme as part if its corporate governance policy; and
  • henceforth engage in competitive practices.



Issued by:

Gillian de Gouveia, Communications Officer

On behalf of the Competition Tribunal of South Africa

Tel: +27 (0) 12 394 1383

Cell: +27 (0) 82 410 1195

E-Mail: GillianD@comptrib.co.za

Twitter: @comptrib

 


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