Goodyear, other tire makers slam 'far fetched' price-fixing lawsuits
Refiles Sept. 23 story to fix a typo in the headline
By Mike Scarcella
Sept 23 (Reuters) -Goodyear, Bridgestone and four other tire manufacturers have asked a U.S. judge to dismiss a trio of class action lawsuits accusing them of conspiring to overcharge consumers and businesses in the multibillion-dollar market for replacement tires.
The companies, also including Continental, Michelin, Nokian and Pirelli, said in an Ohio court filing on Friday that the lawsuits failed to provide any evidence that they agreed to fix tire prices for passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles.
The antitrust cases from consumers, automobile dealerships and other purchasers were assigned in June to the federal court in Akron, Ohio.
The plaintiffs’ claims were first lodged in February on the heels of a European Commission antitrust probe of some tire makers in Europe. The commission is the antitrust enforcer in the 27-country European Union.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs and spokespeople for Continental, Michelin, Nokian, Goodyear, Pirelli and Bridgestone either had no immediate comment or did not immediately respond to requests for one.
The lawsuits estimated sales last year for replacement tires reached $57 billion in the United States.
The plaintiffs contend the alleged conspiracy drove up the average price of replacement tires in the United States by 21.4% between 2021 and 2023. The lawsuits seek class-action status for buyers from early 2020 to the present.
The tire makers in their joint court filing called the claims "far-fetched" and said the plaintiffs had attempted to “create a conspiracy out of thin air” with no evidence substantiating the lawsuits. They said their pricing decisions reflected “rational and competitive behavior in a concentrated market.”
The companies said the existence of the European Commission probe was "insufficient, as a matter of law, to infer an unlawful agreement under U.S. federal and state law.”
Chief Judge Sara Lioi in the Northern District of Ohio was assigned in June to hear the cases.
The case is In Re: Passenger Vehicle Replacement Tires Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, No. 5:24-md-03107-SL.
Read more:
EU antitrust regulators raid consultancy in tyre cartel investigation
Top tire makers are sued in US over alleged price fixing
Reporting by Mike Scarcella
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