German price-fixing probe includes Magna, IAC, and Faurecia

German antitrust authorities searched the offices of Magna International Inc., IAC Group, Faurecia, Borgers AG, Autoneum Germany GmbH and one other automotive supplier Tuesday.

The companies are under investigation on suspicion they have been fixing prices since at least 2002 on floor systems and trunk trim, the Bonn-based authority said on Wednesday.

The cartel office declined to reveal which suppliers had their offices searched.

Magna, IAC, Faurecia and Autoneum said in separate responses that their German operations were searched as part of the probe. Each supplier pledged to cooperate with antitrust authorities.

In a statement issued today, Borgers said it is working intensely to disprove any allegations of wrongdoing.

Faurecia said that it doesn’t tolerated violations of competition law. Autoneum Germany, which is a subsidiary of Swiss-based Autoneum Holding AG, also cited in its release on Wednesday that its code of conduct requires it to comply with all applicable laws, including antitrust and competition regulations.

Magna declined to say which location was searched while IAC said that its office in Krefeld, Germany, was searched by the antitrust authorities.

The searches were conducted simultaneously at companies in the German states of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria on Tuesday, the cartel office told Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche. Twenty cartel office investigators and 15 detectives took part in the searches.