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Kayaba, Sumitomo to pay millions for price-fixing in US

Kayaba Industry Co, which does business in the US as suspension parts maker KYB, and Sumitomo Electric Industries are facing payments in the millions to settle price-fixing cases about the components that they make. As part of the Department of Justice's ongoing crackdown of price fixing in the auto industry, KYB agreed to pay $62 million and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to set the cost of shock absorbers from the mid '90s through 2012. The company allegedly worked with co-conspirators to keep the cost of the parts high, and those components then made it into vehicles from Honda, Kawasaki, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki, and Toyota. "Any collusive agreement among competitors to restrict price competition undercuts our free enterprise system and violates the law," said Carter M. Stewart, US Attorney of the Southern District of Ohio, in the DoJ's announcement. Over the past few years, the DoJ has brought cases against 37 parts suppliers and 55 executives, leading to over $2.6 billion in fines. The investigations haven't always been so successful – some of the Japanese execs fled from the US to avoid prosecution. Critics allege that price fixing is simply how business is done. According to Automotive News, Sumitomo Electric Industries is also facing a $50 million settlement in a civil lawsuit that's related to price fixing of parts like wiring harnesses and heater control panels. The plaintiffs include owners and dealers that purchased vehicles with these parts. The company asserts that the violations are from before 2010, and it now has different process in place to avoid further violations. KYB Agrees to Plead Guilty and Pay $62 Million Criminal Fine for Fixing Price of Shock Absorbers Kayaba Industry Co. Ltd., dba KYB Corporation (KYB) has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $62 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix the price of shock absorbers installed in cars and motorcycles sold to U.S. consumers. According to charges filed today, KYB conspired from the mid-1990s until 2012 to fix the prices of shock absorbers sold to Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (manufacturer of Subaru vehicles), Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Nissan Motor Company Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Company, including their subsidiaries in the United States.

MotorWeek proves '90s were awesome with Supra, Stealth, RX-7, Corvette, 968, 300ZX comparo

Oh, the heady days of 1993, back when the Clinton Presidency was just getting underway, and it seemed like every hot new rock band was coming out of Seattle. Sports cars in the US had finally shaken off the shackles that slowed them during the '70s and '80s, and you could buy any number of legitimately quick vehicles again. MotorWeek recently went digging into its archives to find this six-model test from 1993 showing off some of the best semi-affordable performance coupes that money could buy at the time, and it's priceless.
Featuring the 1994 model year Toyota Supra in twin-turbo guise and MY 1993 versions of the Porsche 968, Nissan 300ZX TT, Mazda RX-7, Dodge Stealth R/T Turbo and Chevrolet Corvette LT-1, MotorWeek definitely covered all of the bases. One thing that might surprise younger readers is these cars' performance. The video only provides 0-60 acceleration times, but several of these vehicles would still be considered pretty potent today - over 20 years since going on sale. The Supra is especially impressive, hitting 60 miles per hour in just 5 seconds. Even today, that's nothing to sneeze at.
Given their performance potential and still-attractive looks, it's amazing that some of these coupes are old enough to drink now. The progress of interior design and safety equipment in the intervening years is pretty shocking, though. In most of these models, having two airbags is touted as a big deal. Scroll down to watch a Throwback Thursday blast from the past about some of the '90s best sports cars.

Recharge Wrap-up: Mazda, Toyota earn environmental awards

Electric mobility nonprofit Drive Oregon has launched a campaign to invite the electric car industry to perform testing in the state. The campaign tells companies to, "Test Drive the Future in the Living Lab," citing Oregon's density of EV owners and charging infrastructure, varied terrain and climate, funding opportunities, and the state's technological reputation as the "Silicon Forest." Plus, as Drive Oregon Executive Director Jeff Allen, points out, "if you really screw things up here, it doesn't make as much noise as it would in California." Already, Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans for an Innovation Incubator in Oregon. Read more at Green Car Reports. Mazda's new paint system has won the Prime Minister's Award in the category of Manufacturing and Production Process at the 6th Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Award ceremony. Mazda's Aqua-tech paint system significantly reduces emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and CO2. The Aqua-tech system uses a water-based color basecoat and a urethane clear coat to reduce VOC emissions by 57 percent. It consolidates the painting process and reduces energy in paint-booth air-conditioning and flash-off processes to reduce energy consumption. It also allows Mazda to create such colors as Soul Red, which looks quite nice on the MX-5 Miata. Read more at Green Car Congress, and learn all about the Aqua-tech paint process from Mazda. The Toyota Mirai has received a 2015 Environmental Award from Austrian automobile club ARBO. The hydrogen fuel cell car took the prize in the category of Current Innovative Environmental Technologies. "At Toyota, we believe that various technologies will co-exist, ranging from EVs to hybrids to the most innovative of all, the fuel cell car," says Gerald Killmann, Vice President R&D of Toyota Motor Europe, in a comment thanking ARBO. "Mirai is a core component of Toyota's vision for a sustainable mobility society, one that allows us all to move freely in comfort and safety in an environmentally friendly, sustainable manner." Read more in the press release below. Vienna, Austria- November 5th - The Austrian automobile club ARBO* (Auto-Motor und Radfahrerverbund Osterreiche) has awarded the Toyota Mirai with the "2015 Environmental Award". This Award was received during a gala ceremony held yesterday in Vienna, where the Toyota Mirai was awarded in the category of "Current Innovative Environmental Technologies" . The jury consisted of ARBO automotive experts.