Automotive Price Fixing
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Inside: Coupons worth up to $240 Coupon values vary by delivery zone. 44/25 Details on Page B10 SUNDAYISLAMIC STATE HIT LIST NATIONAL CHAMPIONS Names, photos of U.S. military OSU wins its first wrestling members posted online / A13 title in school history / C1 $2.00 MARCH 22, 2015 DISPATCH.COM Price is $2.50 in areas outside Franklin County. Campaign finances DISPATCH SPECIAL REPORT Explosion Millions Massive price-fixing scheme among mostly Japanese Big blast reported auto-parts manufacturers only part of has hurt U.S. car buyers, destroys spending cost the industry trust home in By Jim Siegel THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Arlington Donors gave more than $27.5 Mailman smelled million to majority Republican state lawmakers and caucus gas; as many as 30 committees in the last two-year cycle and $8.9 million to Dem- houses damaged ocrats. The oil and gas industry gave By Holly Zachariah about $1.2 million to Repub- and Dean Narciso licans, while charter-school THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH operators, short-term lenders, the beer and wine industry, After six years as a mailman utilities and others concerned in Upper Arlington, Tim Nel- about how they are regulated son has learned to notice little and taxed also were among the things along his route. But top GOP givers. yesterday was different. Those figures are impressive, “You smell gas daily. But that but they are only a portion of was strong,” Nelson said of the the money spent. Third-party On the Web See Donors Page A8 For more photos and a video from the blast site, visit Dispatch.com. Buckeye Lake air outside the home at 3418 DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM Sunningdale Way. The odor became stronger at the gas meter. So he asked a Evacuation neighbor to call the gas com- pany. plans get It was just before noon. Nelson continued his rounds. And then, three hours later: new priority Boom. No one had time to do A culture anything but duck. By Lori Kurtzman The split-level home was THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH gone. Debris rained down. Flames shot into the air. It takes about 90 minutes to Nelson, a few blocks over, clear out the 60,000 visitors said, “I knew immediately who watch the Fourth of July of collusion what it was when it went up.” fireworks over Buckeye Lake. The closest neighbors took By Dan Gearino THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Half of them take the same • cover. People who live as far as routes that residents would a mile away heard and felt the drive should the lake’s earthen he Japanese executives met at Cafe Renoir, blend- blast and said they ran outside dam fail. ing in with the crowd at the Tokyo coffee shop. • to see if a tree had crashed So what does that mean for a They represented competing makers of anti-vibra- onto their roof or a vehicle had potential evacuation of the tion rubber for cars and they were coming together careened into their home. area? T In the end, only minor in- to fix prices on parts made in the U.S. • The meeting was a Maybe a lot. Maybe very little. It all depends on the small part of a conspiracy that has grown to the largest price- See Big blast Page A6 scenario, county officials said fixing prosecution in U.S. history. So far, 33 companies have — and whether residents are pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $2.4 billion in fines, and the • panicked or prepared. investigation is ongoing. See Collusion Page A10 See Evacuation Page A4 A10 THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH TODAY’S TOP STORIES SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2015 PRICE FIXING Collusion The largest set of price-fixing investigations in U.S. history has ensnared 33 companies FROM PAGE A1 Auto-parts price fixing | and many of their executives, and investigators are not done. EXECUTIVES EXECUTIVES HOME EXECUTIVES PLEADED WHO ARE Consumers are the biggest COMPANY CRIMINAL FINE PARTS MANUFACTURED COUNTRY CHARGED GUILTY FUGITIVES losers as the collusion led to Aisan Industry Co. $6,860,000 Electronic throttle-control systems Japan 0 0 0 higher prices for cars and Aisin Seiki Co. $35,800,000 Variable valve-timing devices Japan 0 0 0 trucks. In central Ohio, the cases Autoliv Inc. $14,500,000 Seat belts, air bags, steering wheels Sweden 1 1 0 have left deep wounds among Bridgestone Corp. $425,000,000 Anti-vibration rubber Japan 4 1 3 the cluster of Japanese busi- nesses that provide parts to Continental Automotive Electronics $4,000,000 Dashboard instrument-panel clusters South Korea 2 0 2 and Continental Automotive Korea Honda, eroding trust between longtime partners. Three suppli- DENSO Corp. $78,000,000 Electronic-control units Japan 6 6 0 ers with plants in central Ohio Diamond Electric Mfg. Co. $19,000,000 Ignition coils Japan 2 2 0 have pleaded guilty, as well as a number of companies with area Fujikura $20,000,000 Wiring systems Japan 2 0 2 offices. Furukawa Electric Co. $200,000,000 Wiring systems Japan 3 3 0 The cases show some of the G.S. Electech, Inc. $2,750,000 Antilock-brake systems Japan 1 1 0 weaknesses in a supply network that has long been a strength for Hitachi Automotive Systems $195,000,000 Starter motors, alternators, ignition coils Japan 4 0 4 Japanese automakers. And they Hitachi Metals $1,250,000 Brake hoses Japan 0 0 0 raise difficult questions about the role of Japanese business Jtekt Corp. $103,270,000 Ball bearings, electronic steering assemblies Japan 1 0 1 culture, and whether the illegal Koito Manufacturing Co. $56,600,000 Lighting fixtures Japan 0 0 0 conduct was going on long Mitsuba Corp. $135,000,000 Windshield washer/wiper systems; Japan 3 1 2 before prosecutors got involved. motors for starters, power windows and fans “Your honor, I truly regret what I did,” said Hiroshi Yoshi- Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (MELCO) $190,000,000 Starter motors, alternators, ignition coils Japan 3 0 3 da, a midlevel executive for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries $14,500,000 Compressors, condensers Japan 0 0 0 Yamashita Rubber, a maker of anti-vibration rubber whose NGK Spark Plug Co. $52,100,000 Spark plugs, oxygen sensors, air-fuel ratio sensors Japan 0 0 0 U.S. subsidiary, YUSA Corp., has Nippon Seiki Co. $1,000,000 Instrument-panel clusters Japan 0 0 0 a plant in Washington Court NSK $68,200,000 Bearings Japan 1 0 1 House. He spoke at his 2012 sentencing hearing in a down- Panasonic Corp. $45,800,000 Battery cells Japan 1 0 1 town Toledo courtroom, before Sanden Corp. $3,200,000 Compressors used in air-conditioning systems Japan 0 0 0 heading to federal prison. “And I apologize to you and the Unit- Showa Corp. $19,900,000 Pinion-assist type electric-powered steering assemblies Japan 1 0 1 ed States, and also separately to Stanley Electric Co. $1,440,000 Lamp ballasts Japan 0 0 0 my family, for what happened.” T.RAD Co. $13,750,000 Radiators Japan 1 1 0 At the hearing, his attorney described how someone from a Takata Corp. $71,300,000 Seat belts Japan 6 4 2 competing manufacturer Tokai Rika Co. $17,700,000 Heater-control panels Japan 1 0 1 recruited Yoshida into the con- spiracy. Nine people were in- Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. $120,000,000 Anti-vibration rubber, driveshaft parts Japan 3 1 2 volved from several companies. Toyoda Gosei Co. $26,000,000 Automotive hoses, air bags, steering wheels Japan 1 0 1 They met in Japan at places TRW Deutschland Holding GmbH $5,100,000 Seat belts, air bags, steering wheels Germany* 0 0 0 where they would not be recog- nized, such as coffee shops and Valeo Japan Co. $13,600,000 Air-conditioning systems Japan 0 0 0 in conference rooms at train Yamashita Rubber Co. (YUSA Corp.) $11,000,000 Anti-vibration rubber Japan 1 1 0 stations, the attorney said. There were dozens of separate Yazaki Corp. $470,000,000 Wire harnesses Japan 6 6 0 conspiracies, carried out over *Subsidiary of a U.S. company Source: U.S. Department of Justice more than a decade, affecting THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH more than 25 million vehicles purchased by U.S. consumers, according to prosecutors. To put Central Ohio ties He described a culture in that number in perspective, it is which decisions were made by Some of the central Ohio roughly 1.5 times the vehicles businesses with ties to the Japanese executives, often sold in the country last year. price-fixing cases, including Honda, working with Japanese exec- “The bottom line is that which is a victim: utives at other companies, and Americans paid more for their in which competitors were used 71 cars as a result of this collusion,” EASTEASTLT LIBERTYLIBERTYY SUNBURYSUNU BURRY to working together. said Marvin Price, criminal MARYSVILLEMARYSVILLE AmericanAmericmerm anan Meanwhile, the many Amer- director of the Department of HondaHondnda off AmericaAAmmem ricaa ShowaShhoowaowo ˙ ican employees of the compa- Justice’s antitrust division. Manufacturing nies, even high-level employees, How much more did consum- 33 felt shut out from big decisions. ers pay? We don’t know. 161 In the price-fixing cases, this Yazaki North turned out to be a good thing. Oceans apart America All but one of the 54 people The cases have the makings of 70 ˙ charged are Japanese. (The a sensation: big numbers, be- ˙ 270 exception is Gary Walker, a trayal, secrecy, and all of it relat- LONDON Michigan-based sales executive ed to a product that most peo- Stanley Electric for Takata Corp., who declined U.S.