Toyoda Gosei Agrees to Plead Guilty to Price Fixing in U.S.

Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd. is the latest supplier to agree to plead guilty to rigging bids for auto components, the U.S. Dept. of Justice reports.

The Japanese company will pay a $26 million criminal fine for conspiring to rig prices of hoses, airbags and steering wheels sold to Toyota and Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru) between at least 2003 and 2010.

Toyoda Gosei's plea brings to 29 the number of suppliers involved in the Justice Dept.'s antitrust investigations to date. The department has collected nearly $2.4 billion in fines and charged 43 individuals with conspiracy to fix prices.

The U.S. probe is part of a continuing global investigation into auto parts price fixing in China, Europe, Japan and North America.