Founding decision

Case AT.39824: understanding the European decision

The most heavily sanctioned antitrust case in European industrial history. Fourteen years of collusion, six manufacturers, EUR 3.8 billion in fines.

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EUR 3.8bn
Total fine imposed
14
Years of infringement, 1997 to 2011
90 %
Of the European market controlled
6
Industrial groups involved

Three forms of unlawful coordination established by the investigation

The inquiry by the Directorate-General for Competition demonstrated that cartel members were not competing fairly but ran a structured coordination across the continent.

The first strand was concerted fixing of gross prices, harmonising wholesale price scales and depriving buyers of any fair commercial negotiation. The second was delaying environmental technology, by agreeing the rollout timetable for the equipment needed to meet the successive Euro 3 to Euro 6 standards.

The third strand was passing on the full cost of emission control: a systematic agreement to transfer 100 % of the environmental compliance burden into the final price paid by the customer.

Manufacturer

Fine

Status of the administrative procedure

Daimler (Mercedes-Benz)

EUR 1.01bn

Settlement accepted in 2016

Scania AB

EUR 880m

Conviction upheld by the CJEU

DAF Trucks

EUR 752m

Settlement accepted in 2016

Volvo / Renault Trucks

EUR 670m

Settlement accepted in 2016

Iveco S.p.A.

EUR 494m

Settlement accepted in 2016

MAN SE

EUR 0

Immunity under the leniency programme

Administrative fine and civil reparation are not the same

The EUR 3.8 billion was paid into the European Union budget. It compensates no buyer. The civil action lets victim businesses recover the overcharge they paid, together with late payment interest.

MAN illustrates the distinction perfectly: as the first to report the cartel it avoided a fine estimated at EUR 1.2 billion, yet remains bound to reimburse the full overcharge imposed on its customers.

How your claim is calculated

The original overcharge is only part of your claim. The decisive lever is the compounding of statutory late payment interest, accrued over twelve to twenty-eight years.

C = (Vb × α) × (1 + r)t
  • C: total claimable compensation, principal and late payment interest combined
  • Vb: gross list price or net acquisition value of the vehicle
  • α: artificial overcharge applied by the cartel, between 10 and 20 %
  • r: average statutory annual interest rate applied by the court, 3 to 5 %
  • t: number of years elapsed since the original invoice was paid

Worked example for a fleet of five tractor units bought new in 2005 at EUR 100,000 net each: cumulative direct overcharge of EUR 75,000, interest multiplier of about 2.27 over twenty-one years, giving total claimable compensation of roughly EUR 170,250.

01

Eligibility check

Send us your invoices, lease agreements, registration documents or asset registers covering 1997 to 2014.

02

Audit and firm offer

Our lawyers and econometricians quantify your claim within four weeks.

03

Guided decision

You choose between a cash purchase of your claim within 30 days and litigation on a success-fee basis.

04

Payment released

The compensation is credited directly to your company bank account.

Frequently asked questions

It is the European Commission decision that fined the cartel of the six leading truck manufacturers EUR 3.8 billion for unlawfully fixing gross prices between 1997 and 2011.

Because it finds the manufacturers irrevocably at fault and serves as binding proof before the civil courts. Buyers can claim reimbursement without having to prove the cartel.

Every vehicle financed through leasing, hire purchase or long-term hire is fully eligible, because the rentals were calculated on inflated gross list prices.

The other files in the expertise centre

All the analyses in this section, plus the Legal expertise hub for the overview.

Limitation periods 2026-2029

Deadlines compared across France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain after the Scania ruling.

Read the analysis

Late payment interest

The compounding formula that often more than doubles the original overcharge.

Read the analysis

Claim sale or litigation

Choosing between a guaranteed payment within 30 days and a success-fee action in Amsterdam.

Read the analysis

Scania ruling C-251/22 P

The 2024 decision that locks in the infringement and pushes limitation to 2028-2029.

Read the analysis

Assert your rights under decision AT.39824

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