Auto parts price-fixing probe rattles industry

[unhappycamper]

http://www.adn.com/2014/05/25/3485380/auto-parts-price-fixing-probe.html?sp=/99/171/

Auto parts price-fixing probe rattles industry
By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
May 25, 2014 Updated 2 hours ago

WASHINGTON — An investigation into price-fixing and bid-rigging in the auto parts industry has mushroomed into the Justice Department's largest criminal antitrust probe ever, and it's not over yet.

The investigation, made public four years ago with FBI raids in the Detroit area, has led to criminal charges against dozens of people and companies, stretched across continents and reverberated through an industry responsible for supplying critical car components.

The collusion has also saddled U.S. drivers with millions of dollars in extra costs.

~snip~

So far, 34 individuals have been charged and 27 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to do so, the Justice Department says. Collectively, they have agreed to pay more than $2.3 billion in fines. New cases have arisen with regularity, with Attorney General Eric Holder promising last September that investigators "would check under ever hood and kick every tire."

[mopinko]

1. its the back end that brings in the money for car dealers.

i think the real reason they hate electric cars is the boooooodles they make for the parts and repair side.
ask anybody who ever heard the dread- i have to get that part from the dealer, and you know you are talking a highly, highly rigged sector.

[90-percent]

2. That's one of the reasons we bought a Saturn in the early 90's

Was they designed the car with repair ability and low parts cost as part of their new way of thinking. Along with a lot of employee empowerment and a fresh start separate from GM corporate culture.

I hit a road sign on the drivers side and the myriad plastic and metal odds and ends were priced lie buying them in a dollar Store - from the dealer parts counter off the street!

I was sad when they decided to abandon the line. Sure wish Roger Penske or somebody equally good at running progressive corporations would have bought them.

-90% jimmy