EU investigating German automakers, alleging collusion on emissions tech

Enlarge / A hose for an emission test is fixed in the exhaust pipe of a Volkswagen Golf 2.0 liter diesel car at the Technical Inspection Agency in Ludwigsburg, southwestern Germany, on August 7, 2017. (Photo by THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP) (credit: Getty Images)

The European Commission said on Tuesday that it is opening an investigation into possible collusion among Volkswagen Group, BMW, and Daimler to avoid competition on developing state-of-the-art emissions control technology.

According to Bloomberg, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told reporters at a press conference that the investigation is not focused on price-fixing as much as it is focused on the allegation that the companies together “agreed not to use the best technology” in order to cut costs together.

The emissions control technology in question applies to both gas and diesel vehicles in the EU. A press release from the European Commission noted that it suspected the companies of agreeing to limit the development and roll-out of two types of emissions-regulating technology. The first is Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems, which are specific to diesel engines and reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emitted by the vehicle. The second are “Otto” Particulate Filters (OPF), which reduce the particulate emissions from gasoline vehicles. These emissions treatment systems are based on their diesel counterparts and started appearing in Daimler vehicles after 2014.