WASHINGTON—Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. pleaded guilty for being involved with two separate conspiracies to fix prices of automotive components involving anti-vibration rubber and driveshaft parts installed in cars sold in the U.S. and elsewhere, and it will pay a $120 million fine, the Department of Justice said.
A two-count felony charge filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in Toledo said the company engaged in a conspiracy to allocate sales of, to rig bids for and to fix the prices of automotive anti-vibration rubber parts.
Toyo sold those parts to Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Corp., Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (Subaru) and some of their subsidiaries, affiliates and suppliers.
Toyo has agreed to cooperate with the department's ongoing investigation. The plea agreement is subject to court approval.
The firm has subsidiaries in Franklin, Ky.; and White, Ga.
Toyo also was involved in a separate conspiracy from January 2006 until as late as September of 2010 to allocate sales of, and to fix, raise and maintain the prices of automotive constant velocity joint boots it sold to U.S. subsidiaries of GKN P.L.C., a British automotive parts supplier.
The charges are a result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry.