Suppliers to Honda, Nissan and Toyota such as Denso and Sumitomo Electric were investigated in 2010 following raids on manufacturing facilities by US, EU and Japanese authorities and led to fines totalling almost $1bn being dished out in the US and Japan.
Now, according to Takeshi Shinagawa, a director at the Japan Fair Trade Commission, the EU is likely to announce that it too is fining auto-supplier for their part in cartel activity.
Speaking to Bloomberg Shinagawa said that parts manufacturers Sumitomo Electric Industries, JTekt and at least 12 others were likely to be on the receiving end of EU cartel fines this year, but they were likely to be higher than those levied in Japan.
Antoine Colombani, a spokesman for the European Commission, declined to comment on the issue of future fines but added that regulators have visited producers of automotive lighting, safety equipment, bearings and thermal systems and had no deadline for completing the inquiries.
