Antitrust Agents Raid Faurecia, Tenneco Offices

Antitrust officials from the EC and EU member nations have raided the offices of several exhaust system suppliers across Europe on Tuesday, including those of Eberspaecher, Faurecia and Tenneco.

The unannounced inspections are part of a continuing global investigation into auto parts price fixing. The EC says this week's raids were to collect information about suppliers of exhaust manifolds, catalytic converters, particulate filters, mufflers and exhaust system tubing.

The EC emphasizes that the raids don't imply guilt, and it did not identify the companies it visited. Germany's Eberspaecher, France's Faurecia and America's Tenneco confirmed they were among the companies raided.