Four South Korean components manufacturers this week were fined a total of KRW82.4bn (US$73m) by the country's antitrust regulator for price fixing, according to local reports.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) found the four companies colluded to fix bidding prices on almost 100 vehicle components sold between 2007 and 2018. The bidding companies were Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors which has since been renamed Kia Corporation.
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Hwaseung R&A, which makes rubber components including weather strips, seals and hoses, and three other companies were ordered to take corrective measures to prevent price fixing from happening again.
The regulator said its action would help ensure free market competition would not be undermined and would serve as a reminder to all automotive component manufacturers that price fixing would not be tolerated.
Hyundai and Kia make up South Korea's largest vehicle manufacturing group with the two companies producing 2.93m vehicles, or 83% of the 3.51m vehicles made in the country last year.
