CMA settles investigation with car manufacturers and trade bodies
On 1 April 2025, the CMA reported fines amounting to £77.6m it imposed on ten car manufacturers and two trade associations after they admitted to having infringed competition law in relation to vehicle recycling and connected advertising claims.
Vehicle manufacturers are required to offer customers a free service to recycle end-of-life vehicles; this service is often outsourced to third party recycling companies. The CMA found that certain vehicle manufacturers had agreed between themselves that they would not pay third party recycling companies to handle the recycling of their customers' end-of-life vehicles.
With regards to advertising claims, manufacturers are legally required to inform customers about the recyclability of their products. The CMA's investigation revealed that certain manufacturers agreed that they would not advertise if their vehicles exceeded the minimum recyclability requirement of 85%, and that they would not tell customers about the percentage of recycled materials they used.
Two trade associations helped to facilitate the agreements and intervened when manufacturers acted outside the agreements.
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