 |
| Exhaust from cars is a major source of air pollution in urban areas and numerous cities have enacted or are considering restrictions on driving heavily-polluting vehicles in city-centres dpa/AFP/File |
Brussels
(AFP) - The European Union warned German car giants BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen
on Friday that a preliminary inquiry has concluded they colluded not to compete
on emission control technology.
"As a
result, European consumers may have been denied the opportunity to buy cars
with the best available technology. The three manufacturers now have an
opportunity to respond to our findings," EU competition commissioner
Margrethe Vestager said.
The EU
Commission has concluded that BMW, Daimler and the VW group -- Volkswagen, Audi
and Porsche -- held so-called "circle of five" meetings to rig
competition in emissions technology.
This
allowed them to limit the introduction of "AdBlue" or urea to diesel
engine exhaust gases, reducing its effectiveness as a way to produce cleaner
emissions, the statement said.
The firms
also -- "in the Commission's preliminary view" -- colluded to avoid
or delay introducing OPF particle filters to reduce harmful particles in petrol
exhaust fumes.
The
findings form the basis of a "statement of objections" to which the
firms will have a chance to respond before the Commission decides whether to
pursue a case under competition rules banning cartel agreements.
A Damiler
spokeswoman told AFP the firm was aware of the report but had already been
cooperating with investigators and "does not expect to receive a fine in
this matter".
No comments:
Post a Comment