Toyoda Gosei North America Corporation is accused in a recent civil lawsuit of allegedly conspiring to fix prices for their products in the United States.
Over 50 people were named in the lawsuit filed Aug. 14 in United States District Court in Michigan against the company, which manufactures automotive hoses.
The hoses are used in a variety of different areas in a vehicle engine compartment including in fuel tanks, the lawsuit said.
The plaintiffs claim in the lawsuit the company worked to “fix, raise, maintain and/or stabilize prices, rig bids for, and allocate the market and customers in the United States for automotive hoses.”
The United States Department of Justice is currently working on a criminal investigation into the alleged price fixing.
“The ongoing cartel investigation of price-fixing and bid-rigging in the automotive parts industry has yielded over $2.5 billion in criminal fines,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is seeking class status for those who purchased a vehicle with a hose manufactured by the company since May 2003. The plaintiffs are also seeking damages in excess of $5 million plus court costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by E. Powell Miller and Devon P. Allard of The Miller Law Firm, P.C. in Rochester, Michigan; Hollis Salzman, Bernard Persky and William V. Reiss of Robins Kaplan LLP in New York City; Marc M. Seltzer and Steven G. Sklaver of Susman Godfrey, L.L.P. in Los Angeles; and Terrell W. Oxford of the same law firm in Dallas.
United States District Court Eastern District of Michigan case number 2:15-cv-12893-DPH-MKM