Japan's Bridgestone Corp has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $425 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices on certain automotive parts, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday.The case involved anti-vibration rubber parts sold in the United States and elsewhere to Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Corp., Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corp., Isuzu Motors Ltd. and certain of their subsidiaries and affiliates.Law enforcement authorities in the United States and elsewhere have so far brought price-fixing cases related to auto parts ranging from seat belts to power window motors.Including Bridgestone, 26 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty to price fixing or bid rigging. The investigation has levied more than $2 billion in fines.
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION is a Japan-based company mainly engaged in the automobile business and financial business. Shares of TM fell by 1.6% or $-1.88/share to $115.68. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $99.34 and as high as $134.94. On average, 431855 shares of TM exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 141099.
Source
