Reports indicate plans for damages claim against at least five truck makers
Europe’s biggest truck makers are potentially facing further financial sanctions over their regional cartel activity, with a litigation management company reportedly planning a 100 billion euro (A$143 billion) damages claim.
According to Reuters, Bentham Europe is organising to fund the claim against MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco, and DAF after the manufacturers accepted European Commission-imposed record fines of €2,926,499,000 (A$4.3 billion) in July.
The Commission verdict found the truck makers had colluded to fix truck pricing and coordinate emissions costs over a 14-year period.
The litigation management company at the heart of the latest move is owned by US hedge fund Elliot Management and, if reports are correct, it believes 10 million trucks were sold over the period and each was overpriced by approximately €10,500 (A$15,000).
Where and when the claim will hit a European court is yet to be announced.
The initial investigation into the truck makers began in 2014 after MAN revealed the existence of the cartel to the Commission.
That information left it out of any fines handed out earlier in the year, with the A$4.3 billion being divided among Daimler €1 billion (A$1.5 billion), DAF €753 million (A$1.1 billion), Volvo/Renault €670 million (A$984 million), and Iveco €494 million (A$725 million).
Scania was also part of the initial investigation but unlike the others it denied the charges against it. It remains under investigation.