Sixth auto parts fine brings total to over $51 million

DENSO Corporation recently pleaded guilty to three counts of bid-rigging under the Competition Act and was fined $2.45 million, the Competition Bureau announced recently. DENSO was involved in an international bid-rigging conspiracy that fixed prices for body electronic control units (Body ECUs) supplied to Toyota for cars manufactured in Canada. A Body ECU controls the power supply to certain electrical components in the body of the automobile, such as door locks and electric windows.

This is the sixth guilty plea in Canada in what is considered to be the largest ever international cartel investigation. DENSO’s fine brings the Bureau’s total haul to over $51 million. See our table summarizing guilty pleas to date.