Parts price fixing for 12 years, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia also suffered

It turns out that four partners that supply parts to Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have engaged in collusion for more than 10 years.

The Fair Trade Commission issued a correction order for four auto parts companies, including Hwaseung R&A, DRB Dongil, Aia, and Yuil Rubber, which agreed on the bid price with the prospective bidder in the auto parts purchase bidding conducted by Hyundai Motors and Kia, along with a correction order and a fine of 8,429 billion won. It was announced on the 24th that it had been imposed. It is a small allegation in a bid to purchase Glasoon Weatherstrip worth 2 trillion won for 12 years from 2007 to 2018. Glasoon Weatherstrip is a rubber product attached to the circumference of the vehicle door and prevents outside noise and rainwater from entering the vehicle. Virtually all of the four companies found this time are producing these parts in Korea.

These companies’drive’ each time a bid was placed. When a new car was released, the company that was supplying the existing model was decided as a prospective bidder and agreed to a bid price. For example, when a new Hyundai Grandeur IG is released, it is driven to the same DRB that supplied Glasoon to the existing Granger HG. When a completely new car (Pelisade and Seltos) was released, a separate agreement was made to determine the successful bidder.

The collusion was a cold meal. As a result of the collusion, 81 of the 99 bids (about 81%) were successful as determined in advance. Excluding unexpected competitors’ low-cost bidding or simple mistakes, four companies swept through the bidding. Even Hyundai Motors and Kia, who are the owners and contractual’Gap’, could not use their hands. “The first victims are Hyundai Motors and Kia, but the damage caused by collusion is the structure that consumers see,” said Jeon Sang-hoon, head of the Fair Trade Commission’s Cartel Research Division.

Sejong = Reporter Kihwan Kim [email protected]