Bosch Will Plead Guilty to Price Fixing in U.S.

Robert Bosch GmbH has agree to plead guilty to conspiring to fix prices and rig bids in the U.S. for spark plugs, oxygen sensors and starter motors.

The company will pay a $58 million (€54 million) criminal fine, according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

Bosch admits it helped fix prices for components it supplied to Ford, General Motors and then-DaimlerChrysler between 2000 and 2011 and to Volkswagen from 2009 to 2010.

The conviction is part of a continuing global investigation into price fixing in Europe, Japan and the U.S. The Justice Dept. has now convicted 34 companies and 29 executives of wrongdoing and levied nearly $2.5 billion (€2.3 billion) in fines.