Ninth Japanese Auto Supplier Pleads Guilty to Price Fixing

Tokai Rika Co. has agreed to plead guilty and pay a fine of nearly $18 million in response to criminal charges of manipulating prices of automotive HVAC control panels.

The maker of switches and interior components also has promised to cooperate in the ongoing global investigation into bid rigging and price fixing among auto suppliers.

Tokai Rika is the ninth Japanese supplier to plead guilty to price fixing charges in America. Fines from those companies now exceed $790 million, and 11 executives have received prison sentences.

The company inflated the prices of components sold to Toyota Motor Corp. in the U.S. and elsewhere in 2003-2010, according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice. It also says Tokai Rika destroyed internal documents when it learned the government was investigating.