Volvo Group has made an additional €250m (£208m) provision in connection with the EC’s investigation into an alleged truck cartel, on top of the €400m it set aside in 2014.
Daf parent Paccar has reserved $854.9m (£640m), while Iveco parent CNH Industrial set aside $502m in its first-quarter results earlier this year.
The provisions were made ahead of the conclusion of the EC’s investigation into allegations that a number of truck manufacturers had co-ordinated or agreed their pricing in the European market. The investigation was launched in 2011 with several unannounced inspections to manufacturers’ premises.
Volvo Group, which manufactures Volvo and Renault trucks, made an initial provision in 2014 after the EC supplied it and several other truck manufacturers with a statement of objections – a formal notification suggesting it believed they had been involved in anti-competitive behaviour.
In 2014, Daf, MAN, Scania and Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler confirmed to Commercialmotor.com that they had received a statement of objections.
Volvo said the total €650m provision is based on the company’s best assessment of the financial implications of the investigation and said it is co-operating with the authorities involved.
An EC spokeswoman said the investigation remains ongoing and it would not be appropriate to prejudge the outcome at this time.
In the UK, investigations into the alleged anti-competitive behaviour began in 2010 when the Office of Fair Trading launched two investigations under the Enterprise Act and the Competition Act.
In 2011 the UK closed its criminal investigation, brought under the Enterprise Act, citing “insufficient evidence”; while its investigation into competition issues ceased in 2012 “on the grounds of administrative priority”. No decision was reached.
