Takata referred to tribunal
• Competition Commission finds vehicle-safety component maker was involved in price fixing, market division and collusive tendering
The Competition Commission has referred global vehicle safety component manufacturer Takata and its South African subsidiary to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution.
The Competition Commission has referred global vehicle safety component manufacturer Takata and its South African subsidiary to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution.
The decision follows an investigation in which the commission found Takata was involved in “price fixing, market division and collusive tendering” for components fitted to BMW X3, Honda Civic and CR-V and Toyota Yaris vehicles sold in SA. Takata continues to be embroiled in a global recall of more than 80-million vehicles fitted with its faulty airbags.
The commission has found that Takata colluded with other suppliers on certain components. However, none of the components or vehicles was manufactured in SA.
Sipho Ngwema, the commission’s head of communications, said the commission had jurisdiction over competition transgressions that had an effect in SA even if the offences happened outside the country.
In 2017, Autoliv SA, a subsidiary of the global Autoliv company, admitted guilt in colluding with Takata and others and paid a R150m fine.
TRW Automotive and TRW Occupant Restraints SA are also named as co-offenders, but Ngwema said the company applied for leniency after it “spilled the beans and cooperated with the investigation”.
The offences all occurred in 2007 and 2008 when Takata, along with its co-offenders, colluded on tenders to supply various vehicle components including airbags, seat belts and steering wheels.
There are four individual cases, the first of which involves a tender issued by BMW in 2007 for airbags and seat belts in the F25 generation X3.
The second case involves a 2007 tender for seat belts in the Honda Civic, where Takata and Autoliv “agreed to fix prices, divide markets and tender collusively in contravention of section 4(1)(b) of the Competition Act”, said the commission.
In the third case, Honda issued a tender in 2008 for its Legend model, a car that was never sold in SA.
However, the commission’s investigation had found that Takata and Autoliv agreed that Takata would supply certain components for the Legend and allow Autoliv to win a contract to supply components for the Honda CR-V.
The final case was also in 2008, when Toyota issued a tender to supply seat belts for its Yaris model.
Mzo Witbooi, manager of corporate public relations at Toyota SA, told Business Day that “the Yaris is not manufactured in South Africa and, as such, TSAM imports the vehicle fully built up with no say in the sourcing of any components.
“We would, however, like to state that it is a component supplier, not Toyota South Africa, that is implicated by the Competition Commission.” If found guilty, Takata could face a fine of up to 10% of its turnover in the year preceding that to which the transgression applies. This means the commission could levy the fine against the company’s 2006 or 2007 annual turnover.
However, in 2017 Takata filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US and the majority of its assets are being sold to Key Safety Systems (KSS), an American company specialising in vehicle-safety components, for $1.588bn.